You find out which regenerative and stem cell clinics track and publish outcomes by checking three things: what they measure, who reviews their research, and what they have published. A consensus conference of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons asked physicians offering biologic therapies to commit to high-quality patient registries. At Dynamic Athlete in Boulder, patients’ self-reported results are followed in practice, and separately we run IRB-approved retrospective studies via Rocky Vista University. Our first case report, on advanced knee osteoarthritis, is published in the peer-reviewed journal Cureus. It describes one patient: a record of method, not proof that a treatment works.
If you are weighing PRP or stem cells, you have seen plenty of success rates and not much about where they came from. This page explains what a real outcome measure is, what our practice has published, and what to ask before you book anywhere.
What outcome tracking actually looks like
What orthopaedic surgeons asked clinics to do
A 2018 consensus conference of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the National Institutes of Health recommended that physicians and institutions offering biologic therapies commit to high-quality patient registries for post-market surveillance and quality assessment. Proceedings of a later symposium held by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Biologic Association state that the evidence supporting or refuting many biologic agents is sparse and of low quality, and recommend registries and biorepositories to assess their value. A 2022 review found that real-world patient-reported pain and function data remain sparse for PRP, bone marrow preparations and microfragmented adipose tissue. That is the standard, and the gap a clinic’s own measurement has to close.
What a patient-reported outcome actually is
A patient-reported outcome is a validated questionnaire the patient scores at set times, so change is compared rather than remembered. A 2024 randomized trial of bone marrow concentrate for rotator cuff tears collected pain, DASH and SANE scores at 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months. A two-year minimum follow-up has generally been preferred in orthopaedic studies, though a 2025 editorial notes that some outcomes plateau much earlier. Doing this well is work: when one regenerative medicine clinic built its own outcomes registry, its pilot found suboptimal data entry compliance in key areas. Our PRP therapy and stem cell therapy pages explain each protocol.
Why the measurement has to be able to say no
Outcome tracking means something only if it can return a disappointing answer, and in good trials it does. A randomized trial of PRP for ankle osteoarthritis, scored with patient-reported measures over 52 weeks, found no improvement over placebo injections. A randomized trial of PRP after ACL reconstruction found no superior improvement in knee symptoms and function at 12 months. In a 2026 study of athletes with ankle sprains, PRP did not improve PROMIS pain interference or physical function scores over conventional care, although median time to unrestricted return to sport was significantly shorter with PRP (14.5 vs 17.8 weeks) in this 40-patient, nonmasked trial, a result the authors call exploratory and underpowered. Publishing matters as much as measuring: a 2025 Cochrane review of 25 randomized trials of stem cell injections for knee osteoarthritis suspected publication bias, because up to three larger trials were withdrawn before reporting results.
What we track, and what we have published
Our own work sits in two separate places. The DART Lab, the Dynamic Athlete Research and Training Lab, curates the peer-reviewed evidence behind the clinic’s five protocols and prepares case reports from the practice. The first, published in Cureus, is titled “Management of Advanced Tricompartmental Knee Osteoarthritis With Degenerative Meniscal Pathology Using Extracorporeal Magnetotransduction Therapy, Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy, Microfragmented Adipose Tissue, and Platelet-Rich Plasma.” It is indexed on PubMed and open access, and you can read the full case report on our site. A case report describes the course of one patient and is not evidence that a treatment works in general; the paper itself says larger controlled studies are required before any inference about efficacy. Dr. Garg is Principal Investigator on our IRB-approved retrospective outcome studies.
Who is a candidate, and who is not
Outcome data helps you choose a clinic. The exam decides whether you are a candidate.
- Tendon, ligament or joint pain that has not settled with rehab, where you want a non-surgical option first
- Knee, hip or shoulder osteoarthritis where you want to delay or avoid a joint replacement
- Not when the exam points to a different problem, such as nerve, vascular or inflammatory disease; we refer you to the right specialist
- Not when surgery comes first: mechanical instability, a displaced fracture, or end-stage joint destruction with severe deformity. When surgery is the right answer, we coordinate.
Before you book, ask
- What do you measure, with which validated questionnaire, and at what points after treatment?
- Is your research reviewed by an institutional review board, and at which institution?
- What have you published, in which journal, and can I read it in full?
Why we show our work
You are not shopping for a number. You want the ski day back, the trail run, the afternoon on the floor with your grandkids, without losing months to a surgery you may not need. A clinic that writes down what it does and shows its work in public is a clinic you can hold to account on the way there.
Frequently asked questions
Do regenerative medicine clinics track their outcomes?
Do not assume every clinic does; ask each one directly. Real tracking means a validated patient-reported questionnaire, such as the KOOS for the knee or PROMIS, scored at set times after treatment, ideally feeding a registry that also keeps the patients who did not improve. A 2018 consensus conference of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the National Institutes of Health recommended that physicians offering biologic therapies commit to high-quality patient registries, and a later symposium called the evidence for many biologic agents sparse and of low quality. At Dynamic Athlete, patients’ self-reported results are followed in practice.
Which stem cell clinics publish their outcomes?
Publication is the easiest claim to check: ask for the journal, the year and the PubMed ID, then read it. Dynamic Athlete in Boulder published its first case report, on advanced knee osteoarthritis managed without surgery, in the peer-reviewed journal Cureus, and it is open access. A case report describes one patient and is not evidence that a treatment works in general; it is published so other clinicians can examine exactly what was done. More reports from the practice are pending submission. A clinic that cites other people’s studies but cannot show one of its own has not published its outcomes.
What is the success rate of stem cell therapy for knees?
A careful answer comes from a 2025 Cochrane review of 25 randomized trials with 1,341 participants. Compared with placebo injections, stem cell injections may slightly improve pain and function up to six months, on low-certainty evidence, and the reviewers are uncertain whether more people report treatment success, because that evidence is very low certainty. They also suspected publication bias. So treat any single success percentage for knees with care, and ask which questionnaire it used, at what time point, and against what comparison.
What is a patient-reported outcome measure?
It is a validated questionnaire that the patient fills in, scoring pain, function or quality of life, repeated at set times so change can be compared. Examples used in orthobiologic research are the KOOS for the knee, PROMIS physical function and pain interference, and DASH for the arm and shoulder. A 2024 randomized trial of bone marrow concentrate for rotator cuff tears collected such scores at 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months. The point is a number the patient gives, on a scale others can compare.
How can I tell if a clinic’s success rate is real?
Ask where the number came from. Which validated questionnaire produced it, and at what time after treatment? What happened to the patients who did not improve or did not answer? Was the work reviewed by an institutional review board, and is it published where you can read it? An annotation in an orthopaedic journal warns that some providers deliver so-called stem cell preparations without sufficient data to support their true content and efficacy, which is why the method behind a number matters more than the number.
Is a published case report proof that a treatment works?
No. A case report describes the course of one patient. It is published so other clinicians can see exactly what was done, and it cannot show that a treatment works in general. Our own knee osteoarthritis case report says plainly that larger controlled studies are required before any inference about efficacy can be drawn. Treat a case report as a transparent record of method, and look to randomized trials and systematic reviews for evidence of effect.
Does any regenerative clinic in Boulder run its own research program?
Dynamic Athlete runs the Dynamic Athlete Research and Training Lab, the DART Lab. It curates the peer-reviewed evidence behind the clinic’s five protocols, publishes the clinic’s clinical articles, prepares case reports from the practice, and houses the teaching work of Aneesh Garg, DO, CAQ, who trains other clinicians through the American Shockwave Training Institute. Patients’ self-reported results are followed in practice, and separately we run IRB-approved retrospective studies via Rocky Vista University, with Dr. Garg as Principal Investigator. The two are kept apart: what patients tell us in follow-up is self-report, and the research is reviewed by an institutional review board.
How much does stem cell therapy cost at Dynamic Athlete?
We give a quote after a thorough evaluation. We price the plan for optimal outcomes, not line items off a menu. Cherry financing is available and care is HSA/FSA eligible. Medicare and Kaiser are accepted for consultations and office visits only; PRP, BMA and MFAT are out of pocket. The new patient appointment with Aneesh Garg, DO, CAQ is 90 minutes, usually within the same week. A Dynamic PRP+ injection appointment takes about 90 minutes, and a Dynamic Stem Cell+ procedure takes 2 to 3 hours.
Start with the exam. Stop paying in weeks.
Every week you wait is a week you do not get back. Book the 90-minute evaluation with Aneesh Garg, DO, CAQ at 1790 30th St, Suite 270, Boulder, usually within the same week, and see how we measure what matters: your return to the life you want.
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1790 30th Street Suite 270 · Boulder, CO 80301 · 303-997-1733