140. Understanding Regenerative Medicine | Dr. Kevin O’Donnell

2024-10-01

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“I fell in love with doing regenerative medicine, seeing the great outcomes I could achieve and helping keep people out of surgery, which most people want to avoid if they can,” shares Dr. Kevin O’Donnell, a non-operative sports medicine physician at Breakthrough Regenerative Orthopedics. He talks with Dr. Andrew Fix this week about how regenerative medicine is becoming a powerful option for treating musculoskeletal conditions without the need for surgery. Discussing some of the key treatments in his practice, like prolotherapy, platel...

Discussing some of the key treatments in his practice, like prolotherapy, platelet-rich plasma, and stem cell therapy, Dr. O’Donnell points out that these treatments can help heal the body naturally. So how do these treatments work for issues like tendinopathy, where the tendon tissue breaks down over time? Dr. O’Donnell cites the difference between tendinitis, an acute inflammatory condition, and tendinopathy, which involves ongoing tissue breakdown, and how regenerative medicine can target the root cause of these chronic issues to promote long-term recovery and function.

Dr. O’Donnell also touches on the role of stem cells—often called the “worker bees” of tissue repair—and how their use is advancing in regenerative medicine. He notes that true, sustainable healing requires not only managing symptoms but also addressing the biological factors that drive a condition.

Tune in to this episode to discover how regenerative medicine can truly change patient care and improve quality of life.

Quotes

“What we do with regenerative treatments is target the biology of the joint or soft tissue, and there are various ways we can approach this. From a regenerative standpoint, I don’t perform surgery. Instead, we inject substances into the joint to either flush out cytokines or stimulate a pro-growth environment within the joint. The main treatments we use are prolotherapy, which is a dextrose treatment, platelet-rich plasma, and stem cells.” (21:46 | Dr. Kevin O’Donnell)
“We’re putting growth factors or a combination of growth factors with stem cells into an environment. Stem cells have the ability to recognize when an environment is off-kilter or pro-inflammatory, and they are amazing in that they can actually reprogram the joint, drive down pro-inflammatory cytokines, and increase growth factors. This helps reboot the joint or tissue back to its native state or encourages healing.” (22:37 | Dr. Kevin O’Donnell)
“Inflammation is really the critical component of a lot of our chronic diseases. If you look at most of the top killers of Americans—cancer, heart disease, diabetes, strokes, you name it—it’s all either mitigated or caused by inflammation. This has only recently been recognized as an important component.” (25:04 | Dr. Kevin O’Donnell)
“Not all regenerative medicine is created equally. Come see somebody who has the appropriate training and knows what they’re doing—and preferably does this for a living, not as a side hobby or job—because you can’t do this effectively and completely for patients if you’re not totally invested. This is a whole scientific realm of orthopedic medicine that is changing daily, and you really need to stay up to date and have the proper training.” (01:08:20 | Dr. Kevin O’Donnell)

Links

Connect with Dr. Kevin O'Donnell:

https://www.orthopedicscolorado.com/provider/kevin-o-donnell-do-caqsm

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