Physician: Craig Mahoney
Patients: Bob, Ken and Randy

Iowa Ortho was selected as one of 23 clinics across the U.S. to participate in a breakthrough study with AmnioVisc, which is an innovative treatment for patients with arthritis in their joints. As part of the study, hip and knee surgeon Dr. Craig Mahoney administered AmnioVisc to 20 of his patients.

“AmnioVisc is a great option for arthritic patients who want to return to an active lifestyle,” says Dr. Mahoney.

For some patients like Bob, AmnioVisc was a last resort before total knee replacement surgery. Bob discovered he had arthritis in his knees after undergoing arthroscopic surgery, years after he had torn his meniscus. When the pain from the arthritis had set in and become unbearable, he began receiving cortisone injections from Dr. Mahoney. As time went on, Bob was lucky to get a week of relief from the injections. That’s when Dr. Mahoney approached him about participating in the AmnioVisc study.

Like Bob, Ken had been seeing Dr. Mahoney to receive regular cortisone injections for his crippling pain and they, too, began to wear off in shorter amounts of time. At that point, Ken was willing to try anything.

“For a while, I thought the only thing that was going to help me was surgery,” says Ken.
He is happy to report that the new injection has not only helped reduce his knee pain but has also allowed him to exercise regularly with his dog.

“As time goes by, it seems to be getting better and better,” says Ken.

Bob said his relief from the AmnioVisc was almost immediate as he felt improvement within a short 48 hours. Now a few months out, he no longer has any issues with kneeling, squatting, climbing a ladder or going up and down the stairs at work.

“I haven’t had any problems whatsoever,” says Bob.

Another participant of the study, Randy, has also been pleased with the AmnioVisc results.
“I’m for any solution that allows me to improve my function, reduce pain and defer the total replacement of the knee joint,” says Randy.

Randy originally came to Dr. Mahoney for a second opinion, as he wasn’t quite convinced that total replacement was the only answer to his injured knee. After taking Randy through a number of leg and knee movement exercises, Dr. Mahoney concluded that the knee wasn’t functioning at a level that necessitated replacement.

A few days after his first appointment at Iowa Ortho, Randy received a call about participating in the AmnioVisc study. Amazed by the ingenuity of the new treatment and the ability it had to defer knee replacement surgery, he agreed to partake.

“I still don’t have the same ‘push off’ strength that I had before the knee was injured, but my function, my walk and my range of use for the knee have all improved substantially,” he says.

The results from the national study were unveiled and indicated that by 90 days more than 75 percent of patients reported 60 percent or more improvement, and over 60 percent of these patients reported over 75 percent improvement in their pain and function.

Due to the overwhelmingly positive results collected at Iowa Ortho and other clinics across the nation, patients may now call to set up an appointment with Dr. Mahoney to see if AmnioVisc can help treat their arthritic knee condition. Please note this treatment is currently not covered by insurance.