Is IV stem cell therapy the same as injection-based stem cell therapy?

Injection-based therapy, the approach Aloha Stem Cell uses, delivers your own cells with a guided needle directly into the joint, tendon, or ligament that needs support. IV stem cell therapy instead suspends cells in a solution and infuses them through a vein, on the theory that they will travel through the bloodstream and home to areas of injury.

The two are not interchangeable. Nearly all published clinical evidence for cell therapy in joints comes from intra-articular (into the joint) injection. There is no high-quality trial showing that IV infusion relieves joint pain, and the FDA has approved no stem cell product for joint pain or wellness by any route.

• Ryoncil (remestemcel-L-rknd), the only FDA-approved mesenchymal stromal cell therapy, is approved for steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease in children, not for joints or wellness
• No stem cell or exosome product is FDA-approved for osteoarthritis, joint pain, or general wellness
• Most IV stem cell products marketed to patients are unapproved and promoted on unproven homing theories

At Aloha Stem Cell, treatment is autologous and delivered by guided injection, because that is where the evidence is strongest and the goal is to support a specific area that has struggled to heal. If you are weighing an IV option elsewhere, bring the questions above and ask for the human trial data that supports it. Our team is happy to help you compare honestly.