Case report: adipose–derived mesenchymal stem cells combined with core decompression in the treatment of early-stage avascular necrosis of the femoral head

INTRODUCTION: Core decompression is a well-known modality for treating the early stages of avascular necrosis of the femoral head (AVN), however, several methods have been suggested to augment this procedure and improve the outcomes. CASE REPORT: A 52 male was diagnosed with a stage I AVN of the femoral head and treated with core decompression (CD) and injection of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs). The MRI showed full healing of the lesion after 3 months with significant clinical and functional improvement. DISCUSSION: AD-MSCs could have the same capabilities as bone marrow-derived stem cells with many advantages, implantation of AD-MSCs in orthopedics and as an augmentation of core decompression has been tried before, but no clear guidelines nor methods of application are well established in the literature. CONCLUSION: Implantation of AD-MSCs with Core decompression could be an effective modality to treat osteonecrosis of the femoral head in pre-collapse stages, however, we need bigger clinical studies to determine the actual effectiveness of this method.