Ortho-ATI shows promise in hip tendon pain

Orthocell’s regenerative therapy Ortho-ATI significantly improved the clinical outcome of patients with gluteal tendinopathy (hip tendon pain) during a recent pilot study.

Results from the 12-patient trial were presented at the 15th European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EFORT) Congress in London last week.

Ortho-ATI is a tissue-engineering technique which uses a patient’s own tendon cells implanted into the site of damaged tendons and ligaments to assist in the repair of the damage. ATI stands for autotologous tenocyte implantation.

The patients were all assessed by an independent, blinded therapist pre-operatively and at 3, 6, 12 and 24 months after the implantation procedure. They had an average symptom length of 33 months and had exhausted all available treatment options prior to the trial.

The results show that Ortho-ATI improved the outcome of the treated patients, who experienced reduced pain and increased functionality. When completing a post-trial questionnaire at the two-year mark, two thirds of patients were ‘satisfied’ or ‘highly satisfied’ with their treatment outcome.

Orthocell Managing Director Paul Anderson said the results indicate that Ortho-ATI has potential in treating gluteal tendinopathy, as well as a range of other hard-to-treat musculoskeletal conditions characterised by tendon degradation.

“The world population is rapidly ageing and associated musculoskeletal conditions will place an enormous financial burden on many global economies,” he said.

“To counteract the financial impact of age-related illnesses and injuries, we need to be smarter in our approach to treating patients and create less invasive and more cost-effective procedures.”