Table 3.

A summary table of the key, take-home points for each of the interventions reviewed

Alternative therapy	Key points
Autologous chondrocyte implantation	• Treatment for cartilage defects and not osteoarthritis • Includes ACI and MACI • Trial evidence to support symptomatic benefit • Supported by NICE in the UK for specific patient group (including no previous knee surgery, limited evidence of knee osteoarthritis, large chondral defect)
Mesenchymal stem cell injection	• There are multiple sources of MSCs with differing profiles of usage and limitations • Multiple sources of MSCs lead to difficulties in directly comparing clinical trials • Trial evidence to support symptomatic benefit • Limited evidence to support structural benefit (MRI cartilage thickness)
Platelet-rich plasma	• Trial evidence to support symptomatic benefit • Multiple methods of preparation lead to difficulties in directly comparing clinical trials
Vitamin D	• Evidence of efficacy in clinical trials is equivocal • Recommendation to provide supplementation to those patients with evidence of depleted levels of 25OH-vitamin D
Other alternative therapies	• Very limited clinical trial data to suggest the efficacy of oral collagens, MSM, SAMe, curcuma and ginger • Adverse events: largely rare, though ginger appears to be associated with an increased risk of mild gastro-intestinal adverse events