Regenexx: injections soon will replace orthopedic surgery – Broomfield Enterprise

Dr. John Schultz gives an injection of bone marrow derived stem cells into the knee of patient Steve Brink from Washington state at the Regenexx offices in Broomfield on Monday. Brink was in to have work done on a sports injury on his knee made worse by surgery. The company isolates platelets and stem cells to re inject them into patients to stimulate tissue healing in joints, ligaments and tendons. (Paul Aiken / Staff Photographer)

Eric Beck removes plasma from a centrifuge at the Regenexx processing lab at their offices in Broomfield on Monday. The company isolates platelets and stem cells to re inject them into patients to stimulate tissue healing in joints, ligaments and tendons. (Paul Aiken / Staff Photographer)

Broomfield physician Christopher Centeno has a bold prediction about one of the fastest-growing fields of medicine: Orthopedic surgery.

"Most of what we currently call orthopedic surgery will, in the next 10-20 years, be in the dust bin of history," he said. "Thirty years from now, cutting people open and drilling holes will be considered barbaric."

Like many men with big claims, Centeno isn't exactly unbiased. He is one-half of the Centeno-Schultz Clinic in Broomfield, and co-founder and owner of Regenexx, a company specializing in regenerative medicine through the use of biologics. Regenexx treatments include injection of patient's own stem cells and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to encourage healing of tendons, joints and muscles.

Seventy percent of orthopedic issues currently treated with surgery could instead be handled using regenerative methods, Centeno said. Patients come to him from all over the country to repair torn ACL and rotator cuffs or find relief from osteoarthritis and sciatica.

Medical professionals are increasingly buying in to Centeno's ideals. Regenexx has licensed its technology to 48 clinics in the U.S. and abroad since 2012. And a classroom/lab at the Broomfield headquarters has instructed hundreds of doctors to administer the injections.

Even orthopedic surgeons who stand to lose out if scalpels can be replaced by syringes are increasingly seeing the benefits of non-invasive, regenerative therapies. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in 2014 published an interview titled "Are Biologics the Future of Orthopaedics?"

Dr. Adam W. Anz provided the answer: "Biologics represent the next frontier in orthopaedics," he told AAOS. "I believe biologics will revolutionize the next 30 years."

There is certainly promise in stem cells and PRP, agreed ortho surgeon Eric McCarty, the chief of sports medicine and shoulder surgery for the University of Colorado School of Medicine's orthopedics department, and also director of sports medicine for CU athletics.

McCarty has used some biologic treatments on student athletes. He himself received an injection of PRP to ease the pain of his tennis elbow and prevent the need for surgery. But the treatments are usually preventive, or additive, to surgical options.

"In an active town (like) Boulder, people hurt themselves skiing or biking, and fixing an ACL or rotator cuff is not managed with biologics," he said. "What we're looking at now is how does that help speed up the process of healing or prevent osteoarthritis or the need for surgery."

McCarty cautions patients about clinics that promise healing. There are "a lot of claims about stem cells," he said, but not "much science to back it up."

"They have to understand what they're getting at this point and time. I caution people to be careful of how they spend their money."

The procedures are pricey. An ACL repair, for example, costs $6,000-$8,000 at Regenexx. A surgical procedure in a hospital would cost north of $10,000, McCarty said, but the procedure is covered by most insurers, unlike regenerative therapies.

Adoption among insurers has been slow, Centeno admits. But he disagrees with McCarty on the pace of change. The shift is happening now, he said.

"Twenty years ago, we were the only people in the country doing this. Then five years ago, 100 people were doing it. In the last 24 months, that has probably climbed to 1,000. It is spreading like wildfire as we speak."

Centeno doesn't concern himself with naysayers in the medical or insurance fields, instead keeping his focus on spreading the word and training ever more physicians in the ways of Regenexx.

"It's like anything in medicine," he said. "You've gotta push that rock uphill."

Shay Castle: 303-473-1626, castles@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/shayshinecastle

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