My experience receiving a Bone Marrow Aspiration Injection

By Dan Crane, President of Apex Biologix

Apex Biologix had another successful Adult total nucleated cell and PRP training course in Park City on the last weekend of June.  We had physicians attend from all over the country and even a few from Canada to learn more about regenerative medicine.  On the second day of the conference, I volunteered to be a patient for Dr. Rosenthal so he could demonstrate the BMC procedure to the attendees.  I knew I was in good hands with Dr. Rosenthal, and because my knee had been giving me some problems, I jumped at the chance.  I started road biking fairly seriously this summer, and after long rides my knee would ache.  I had an ACL reconstructive surgery 15 years ago and a scope several years later, so my left knee has been weaker than my right for a long time.

total nucleated cell Harvesting Process

My total nucleated cells were obtained from the iliac crest, harvesting 60 cc of fluid from my bone marrow.  This process was fairly pain free.  I was conscious and given no oral medication.  I did however receive local anesthetics near the injection site.  Since I was awake on my stomach during the procedure, I could interact with the physician attendees, provide feedback to Dr. Rosenthal if I was experiencing pain, and see the images of the needle in my back on the screen.  The only pain I experienced during the procedure was when the syringe was pulled back to obtain more fluid.  It can best be described as a pinching sensation.  The entire process of the bone marrow aspiration only took about 15 minutes. I suspect it would have been faster than that if I was not an educational subject.  I did become anxious about half way through the procedure when I started to picture a big needle deep in my bone, so at that point I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths.

Results from the Treatment

Once 60 cc of fluid was collected, the medical assistant spun the fluid in the Emcyte centrifuge which separated out about 6 cc of stems cells.  Under the guidance of a fluoroscopy unit, and with more local anesthetics, Dr. Rosenthal injected my total nucleated cells into my left knee joint.  Overall, I was very impressed with the timing and experience of the procedure.  From beginning to end, it took less than 40 minutes and I experienced very little pain.  I walked off the exam table with no pain.  After the local anesthetics wore off I was a little sore for the next two days and I iced my back in the evening after work for about 45 minutes.  Following the procedure, I avoided all sports for the first week, but walked as normal.  The second week I biked one day in a high gear on flat ground with no pain.  Next week I plan to ease back into light sport activities.   At this point the results are a little early to report on, but the procedure itself was very easy.

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