SVF injection for Knee arthritis in Korea
(Autologous fat-derived stromal vascular fraction injection)
Revolutionizing knee regeneration with your own fat.
What is a Stromal Vascular Fraction Injection(SVF)?
Stromal Vascular Fraction (SVF) injection is a treatment that injects mesenchymal cells extracted from adipose tissue, which makes up the largest portion of our body, into the knee joint.
While existing treatment methods mainly aim to relieve pain or suppress inflammation, autologous fat therapy is a treatment method that fundamentally regenerates damaged cartilage.
It has the advantage of being able to delay degenerative arthritis along with improving symptoms, and its use of autologous fat tissue reduces the risk of complications, meaning long-term effects can be expected with a single treatment.
Because autologous bone marrow treatment has the disadvantage of being more difficult to secure mesenchymal cells than autologous fat treatment, the recent trend in knee arthritis treatment is moving from ‘autologous bone marrow’ to ‘autologous fat.’
Autologous fat-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) Injection: Procedure
Mesenchymal cells can be extracted from various parts of the body, such as fat, bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, and placenta. Among them, they are mostly extracted from adipose (fat) tissue, which can be easily collected in relatively large quantities.
The procedure is largely divided into two stages. First, a small amount of fat is taken from the patient’s abdomen or thighs, and then mesenchymal cells are extracted using a centrifuge. Then, the extracted cells are injected into the knee joint to treat the damaged area.
It is possible to perform the procedure with only local anesthesia, and the procedure time is relatively short; about 1 hour. After the procedure, you will only need to rest for 1 to 2 days, but there is no major disruption to your daily life.
1. Extracting fat tissue through liposuction
2. Injecting the collected fat tissue into the kit.
3. Centrifuge operation
4. Extract mesenchymal cells
5. Culturing the extracted cells
6. Injection into the knee joint
Outstanding Advantages of SVF Injection
Among people in their 20s, only 1 in 1,000 have mesenchymal cells, but this number reduces from 1 in 100,000 to 1,000,000 in people over 60.
However, since there is 1 mesenchymal cell extracted from adipose tissue in 10 to 15 cells, it can be said that 7-10% of all fat cells are mesenchymal cells. For this reason, advanced countries have been actively using autologous fat-derived SVF injections with a high concentration of mesenchymal cells to treat arthritis for the past 10 years.
Easy to harvest in large quantities
Mesenchymal cells derived from adipose tissue are available in greater quantities than from other sources such as bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, and placenta, and can be easily extracted through liposuction.
Available for most age groups
Extractions can be performed regardless of the patient’s age, and the younger the patient, the better the condition of the mesenchymal cells, so it is effective to receive the procedure early.
High number of mesenchymal cells and excellent self-renewal ability
Adipose tissue contains 100 to 500 times more mesenchymal cells than bone marrow, and has excellent self-renewal capabilities.
Increased Safety Thanks to no immune rejection
Because it is taken from the patient’s own body, there is no allergic or immune rejection reaction when it is re-injected into the body.
The first step to pain-free knees is with autologous fat
Differences between BMAC injection and SVF injection
Recently, autologous fat-derived SVF injection has been approved by the government as a ‘new medical technology’, making it possible to perform the procedure safely on patients with stage 2 or 3 arthritis, or with more than 50% knee cartilage damage.
However, insurance companies are putting the brakes on the necessity of ‘hospitalization for at least 6 hours’, which is the standard for payment of actual loss insurance, especially for new medical technology treatments recognized by the government, which is increasing conflict between patients and insurance companies.
The Korean Society of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine has stated that for the ‘injection of autologous adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF),’ hospitalization for at least 6 hours or even more than a day is required due to general anesthesia used during fat tissue extraction. Additionally, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service continues to reimburse the hospitalization fees as applied after adipose-derived therapy was recognized as a new medical technology, acknowledging that ‘inpatient treatment is appropriate.’ Since this has been recognized by credible government institutions, it is expected to settle the debate over claims that ‘hospitalization is unnecessary.’
▪️ Procedure time : The procedure is completed within 1 hour without anesthesia or incision, and the treatment effect is expected to last for 1 to 2 years with a single injection
▪️ Harvesting method : An invasive procedure that collects mesenchymal cells from the pelvic bone marrow
▪️ Number of cells : 1 per 1,000 for those in their 20s / 1 per 100,000 to 1 million for those over 60
▪️ Cell differentiation potential : Can differentiate into various cells such as bone, cartilage, fat, and muscle
▪️Loss insurance available
▪️ Main advantages : Mainly better effects on tissue regeneration and blood diseases or cerebrovascular diseases
▪️ Main disadvantages : Small amount harvested and less effective with age
▪️ Procedure time : About 1 hour of general anesthesia, liposuction is performed, and the process is a bit more complicated.
▪️ Harvesting method : Non-invasive procedure that collects mesenchymal cells from the abdomen or thighs.
▪️ Number of cells : 1 per 10-15 fat cells / Approximately 7-10% of all fat cells are mesenchymal cells.
▪️ Cell differentiation potential : Can be differentiated into various cells such as bone, cartilage, fat, and muscle, and is especially used for arthritis, skin regeneration, and cosmetic surgery.
▪️Loss insurance available
▪️ Main advantage : Sufficient amount can be collected regardless of age, and excellent effect for cartilage treatment and cosmetic treatment
▪️ Main disadvantage : Effect may be limited depending on the amount of fat