Jammu, Jun 26: In a first of its kind, the Department of Orthopaedics, Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu has instituted stem cell therapy for a patient with knee osteoarthritis (OA knee).
The stem cell therapy is a newer therapy to prevent progression of osteoarthritis in mild to moderate disease and can prevent or delay the need of total knee replacement in the patients of osteoarthritis (OA).
Principal GMC Jammu, Dr Ashutosh Gupta, while giving a brief account of the significant achievement, maintained, “It is a day care procedure and the patient can be sent home the same day. By making the stem cell therapy treatment available for OA knee patients, the Department of Orthopaedics of GMC Jammu has joined the select club of the medical centres in India where the stem cells have been used for OA knee.”
The procedure was conducted by Dr Bias Dev, Associate Professor Orthopaedics with assistance from Dr Tahir Afzal and Dr Tadeel Rashid in Bone and Joint Hospital, Jammu on a 65-year-old patient Bishno Devi, resident of Bainglar, Samba on June 19, 2026.
The patient was suffering from knee pain because of osteoarthritis and was asking for total knee replacement to overcome her pain, Dr Ashutosh Gupta shared.
“The challenge in stem cells therapy is in maintaining a strict cold-chain as they are transported in a liquid nitrogen chamber for maintaining a temperature of minus 90 degrees Celsius,” GMC Jammu Principal explained.
The required articles for this treatment were arranged through Ayushman Bharat Scheme for which the patient and her relatives expressed their gratitude to the team of treating doctors and GMC administration particularly Principal GMC Jammu Dr Ashutosh Gupta for making the facility available with no cost to them.
