Affiliations: [a] Department of Medicine, Division of Physiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the Canadian Centre for Integrative Medicine, University of Toronto, ON, Canada | [b] Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada | [c] Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and the Canadian Centre for Integrative Medicine, ON, Canada | [d] Canadian Centre for Integrative Medicine, ON, Canada
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Gordon D. Ko, Canadian Centre for Integrative Medicine, 12 Main Street North, Markham, ON, L3P1X2, Canada. E-mail:drgordko@rog
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Two-thirds of adults worldwide will experience low back
pain at some point in their life. In the following case series, we present
four patients with sacroiliac (SI) joint instability and severe chronic low
back pain, which was refractory to other treatment modalities. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the efficacy of platelet-rich plasma
(PRP) injections, a novel orthobiologic therapy, for reducing SI joint pain,
improving quality of life, and maintaining a clinical effect. METHODS: Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SFM), Numeric Rating
Scale (NRS), and Oswestry Low Back Pain and Disability Index were used for
evaluation of treatment at pretreatment, 12-months and 48-months after
treatment. RESULTS: At follow-up 12-months post-treatment, pooled data from
all patients reported a marked improvement in joint stability, a
statistically significant reduction in pain, and improvement in quality of
life. The clinical benefits of PRP were still significant at 4-years
post-treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Platelet-rich plasma therapy exhibits clinical
usefulness in both pain reduction and for functional improvement in patients
with chronic SI joint pain. The improvement in joint stability and low back
pain was maintained at 1- and 4-years post-treatment.
Keywords: Musculoskeletal and joint disorders, drugs and medicines, orthopaedics, back pain, occupational and environmental medicine, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, ligament laxity, sports and exercise medicine, fibromyalgia, neuropathic pain, motor vehicle accident
