Platelet-rich plasma SIJ injection cuts low back pain

(HealthDay)—For patients with chronic low back pain, ultrasound-guided sacroiliac joint (SIJ) injection with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is effective for reducing pain, according to a study published online Sept. 27 in Pain Practice.

Varun Singla, M.D., from the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow, India, and colleagues examined the efficacy and safety of PRP versus methylprednisolone in ultrasound-guided SIJ injection for low back pain. Forty patients with chronic low back pain diagnosed with SIJ pathology were randomized into two groups and received either 1.5 mL methylprednisolone and 1.5 mL lidocaine with 0.5 mL saline (Group S) or 3 mL leukocyte-free PRP with 0.5 mL calcium chloride (Group P) in ultrasound-guided SIJ injection.

The researchers found that, compared with Group S, Group P had significantly lower intensity of pain at six weeks and at three months. In Group S the efficacy of steroid injection was reduced to 25 percent at three months, while in Group P it was 90 percent. In patients receiving PRP there was a strong association, and when other factors were controlled there was a reduction of visual analogue scale score ≥50 percent from baseline. There was initial improvement in the Modified Oswestry Disability Questionnaire scores and Short Form Health Survey scores for up to four weeks in Group S, followed by further deterioration at three months; in Group P both scores improved gradually for up to three months.

"The intra-articular PRP injection is an effective treatment modality in low back pain involving SIJ," the authors write.

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