Knee OA (I–III)
The most common reason patients come to us. Early to moderate OA with cartilage wear but limited bone-on-bone contact.
- Medial or lateral compartment
- Early to moderate OA, strongest
- Read against MRI & weight-bearing X-ray
Knee pain: a replacement is one option.
For knee osteoarthritis, meniscus degeneration, and cartilage loss, stem cell therapy is a legitimate path to review before you book the operating room. Your imaging gets the deciding vote, not whatever's most convenient to recommend.
- #1 indication
- The knee is the joint we screen most. Typically early-to-moderate OA or a surgical recommendation in hand.
- 4–12 wks
- When most knee patients first notice meaningful change. Improvement can keep building through the first year.
Medically reviewed by the physician team at Hospital Angeles · October 2026
You've been told surgery is next.
Knee replacement is framed as inevitable once degeneration reaches a certain grade. Sometimes that's accurate. Often it isn't. By the time a knee is arthritic, the tendons, ligaments, and muscles around it are usually strained too, and that's a large part of the pain. We treat the whole joint, so candidacy is about more than how much cartilage is left.
Moderate osteoarthritis, meniscus degeneration, ligament and tendon strain, and early cartilage loss frequently respond, because we treat the supporting structures around the knee, not only the cartilage inside it. For advanced bone-on-bone arthritis, the expected response is lower, but we will still consider treating you if you want to delay a joint replacement.
If your surgeon has recommended replacement, the evaluation is still a reasonable next step. We will read your MRI and tell you plainly what kind of response to expect.
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Strong fit
Moderate degeneration, not yet bone-on-bone
Moderate wear with joint space preserved in at least one compartment. The best response profile.
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Also a fit
Meniscus damage, chronic tendinopathy, post-injury drift
Where conservative care has plateaued and PRP or cortisone hasn't held.
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Not a fit
Hardware-required pathology
Ligament instability requiring reconstruction, or a knee that needs hardware: surgery is the right tool. End-stage OA with subchondral bone loss is considered case by case, after a frank forecast.
Knee conditions the physician team evaluates.
Every evaluation starts with Celva's physician team at Hospital Angeles, Tijuana reading your imaging and history. Not every diagnosis qualifies. Candidacy is decided on severity, structure, and your specific case.
Meniscus & cartilage
Degenerative meniscus tears, chondromalacia, and focal cartilage defects that haven't responded to conservative care.
- Degenerative tears
- Chondromalacia grade II–III
- Focal defects < 2 cm²
Post-injury & tendinopathy
Accelerated degeneration after a prior ACL, MCL, or meniscus event. Chronic patellar or quadriceps tendinopathy.
- Post-ACL osteoarthritis
- Patellar tendinopathy
- Refractory after PT / PRP
How a knee session actually runs.
We treat the knee as a whole joint, not just the cartilage. Under image guidance, cells go into the joint space and into the supporting structures around it: the tendons, ligaments, and muscles that hold the knee together and often drive the pain. Paracrine signaling does the rest, calming inflammation and supporting the joint's own repair machinery over weeks to months.
Joint cases like yours use bone-marrow and umbilical-cord MSCs, often in combination and sometimes with chondrocytes for cartilage support. The exact recipe, which cells, what doses, which routes, is decided by Celva's physician team after reviewing your imaging. Matched to your case, not pulled off a shelf. Why we use multiple cell types →
The entire procedure is physician-supervised at Hospital Angeles, Tijuana. A Celva driver brings you from San Diego, and most patients are home the same day. The only thing left to plan is dinner.
Because we treat the tissues around the knee too, the first days usually bring soreness rather than instant relief. That's the healing response doing its job. We ask you to stay off the knee with very limited activity for the first 7 to 10 days and let it settle; the signaling works over weeks, not hours.
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Imaging & candidacy
A 15-minute call with a patient coordinator, who gathers whatever records you have. The physician team reviews degeneration grade, joint-space width, and structural integrity. You'll hear either way, in writing.
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Dose & route
Cell type and dose, delivery route, and the same-day systemic IV, all set against your imaging and goals.
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Image-guided injection
Fluoroscopic or ultrasound guidance places cells in the target compartment. Needle position confirmed before release. Local anesthetic, with twilight sedation available if you want it (no general): a still, comfortable patient lets the physician reach every target and place the cells precisely.
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Systemic IV
A second MSC dose IV in the infusion suite. The IV and the injection are designed to work together.
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Check-ins, then once a year
Your patient coordinator or aftercare specialist follows up for good, not just once: a pain-and-safety call at 1 week, then calls at 1, 3 and 6 months, then once a year, by phone or video. A physician joins when needed. You won't have to chase us. It's already on our calendar.
What to expect. And what we won't promise.
No outcome guarantees. What you get is a thorough evaluation, a realistic conversation, and treatment delivered to pharmaceutical-grade standards. Here is what knee candidates generally report.
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~ 30 days
Inflammation down, sleep better
Early reduction in NSAIDs for many patients. Pain on loading often unchanged.
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~ 90 days
Function starts to return
For most qualifying candidates, this is when it shows: stairs, time on your feet, the distance you had given up. Not everyone, and not all at once.
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~ 180 days
The 6-month review
Some patients report near-complete relief. Others see partial improvement. Whether a second treatment makes sense is decided at your follow-up reviews.
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Through year 1
Still building
Improvement can keep building through the first year. How long results hold varies with severity and biology.
The absence of dramatic change at two to four weeks is normal and expected. MSCs work through a slow paracrine process, not a pharmacologic on/off switch.
Your patient coordinator or aftercare specialist follows up at 1 week, then at 1, 3 and 6 months, then once a year, asking what you can do again. A physician joins when needed. You are not tracking this alone.
Knee-specific questions.
Can MSC therapy replace knee replacement surgery?
Not a guaranteed replacement, but a legitimate option to evaluate before you commit. Patients with moderate degeneration, not yet bone-on-bone, are often the strongest candidates. Candidacy is decided by imaging review and physician evaluation.
How long before I notice improvement?
Most knee patients begin noticing change between 4 and 12 weeks, and improvement can keep building through the first year. Your patient coordinator or aftercare specialist checks in at 1 week, then at 1, 3 and 6 months, then once a year. You feel it where the knee used to stop you: stairs, sleep, the things you had put down.
Does advanced bone-on-bone degeneration qualify?
Yes, it can qualify, with a frank conversation. End-stage, bone-on-bone degeneration with subchondral bone loss produces a lower expected response than moderate cases. For patients who want to delay a joint replacement, we'll still consider treating you; we just want you choosing with realistic expectations, not optimistic ones.
Does the injection hurt?
Local anesthetic is always used, with twilight sedation available if you want it. Sedation is not only for comfort. When you're relaxed and still, the physician can deliver the injection precisely and place the full dose where it's needed; pain or guarding can get in the way of that. Most patients feel little to nothing. Mild soreness at the site for 24 to 72 hours is common, and the injection itself takes 15 to 30 minutes.
Can I pair the knee injection with IV therapy the same day?
Yes. Almost every joint patient also receives a systemic IV the same day, for systemic anti-inflammatory support. The physician team confirms the combination when it reviews your case.
How soon can I use the knee normally?
Plan on staying off the knee with very limited activity for the first 7 to 10 days while the joint is protected. Physical therapy is recommended after that. Loading and strengthening inside physical therapy are fine; outside it, avoid loading the knee for 4 to 6 weeks. Loading too early works against the repair. Running and high-impact activity wait until weeks 8 to 12.
Start with an honest read.
Your first call is with a Celva patient coordinator. Celva's physician team then reviews your imaging, history, and goals, and tells you plainly whether MSC therapy is a realistic option for your knee. If it isn't, we'll say so.
Not medical advice. Individual results vary. All patients undergo physician screening before treatment is recommended.