Can your own bone marrow beat steroids for knee pain?

NCT ID NCT05985785

What the study statuses mean

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Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now This study
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Aug 24, 2026 · Last updated Aug 25, 2026 · Updated 1 time

Summary

This trial tests whether a single injection of a patient's own bone marrow concentrate (BMAC) can reduce knee pain and improve function better than the standard corticosteroid injection in people with knee osteoarthritis. Adults aged 18-70 with moderate knee arthritis and persistent pain are eligible. Participants are randomly assigned to receive either BMAC or a steroid shot, and their pain and knee-related quality of life are tracked over time.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
A patient's own bone marrow concentrate (BMAC) injected into the knee, compared with standard corticosteroid injections.
What this could lead to
If BMAC works better than steroids, it could offer a longer-lasting, natural option for knee osteoarthritis pain relief without surgery.
What could go wrong
This is a single trial with 100 people, and results may not apply to everyone. BMAC is still experimental for this use, and its benefits over standard care are not yet proven.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 100 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Jul 2022

Expected to finish

Mar 2028

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

18 to 70 years

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients between the ages of 18-70 * Long standing knee pain from osteoarthritis (KL grade 2-3) despite conventional treatments such as activity modification, weight loss, physical therapy, analgesics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or injection therapy for at least 6 weeks * 7-day average pain score of at least 4 on VAS scale Exclusion Criteria: * Systemic diseases (Diabetes, malignancies, infections, etc.) * Post-traumatic arthritis * Patient had intra-articular injection on affected knee in last three months

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

  1. The places running it

    1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.

  2. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

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  3. A doctor treating you

    A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Rush University Medical Center

    RECRUITING

    Chicago, Illinois, 60612, United States

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