Does Discectomy and Reconstruction With Viable Osteochondral and Umbilical Allografts Reduce Pain and Improve Function for Intra-Articular Pain and Dysfunction?

This case series reports short- and medium-term outcomes for patients with intra-articular pain and dysfunction who, after failing nonsurgical and minimally invasive treatments, underwent arthrotomy, discectomy, and reconstruction with cryopreserved viable osteochondral allografts wrapped in viable cryopreserved umbilical cord tissue. Inclusion criteria required failure of nonsurgical treatments and arthrocentesis or arthroscopy, placement of an interpositional allograft postdiscectomy, preoperative and postoperative pain scores, and maximum interincisal opening measurements, and at least 12 months follow-up or until treatment failure. No exclusion criteria were applied. Thirty-one subjects (33 joints) with a mean age of 51.5 years (±15.2), were included. Median follow-up was 23 months (interquartile range: 18 to 24, range: 6 to 30). Mean pain scores decreased from 8.6 (±1.06) to 2.5 (±1.73), P < .001, and mean maximum interincisal opening improved from 31.2 mm (±4.08) to 37.5 mm (±2.77), P < .001. Although the results are promising, long-term outcomes remain unclear, requiring long-term prospective cohort studies with controls to validate these findings.