ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pain Res.
Sec. Musculoskeletal Pain
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpain.2025.1648772
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Intervertebral Disc Degeneration Research: Focus on Annulus Fibrosus and Pain ManagementView all 4 articles
Platelet-rich plasma in the treatment of discogenic low back pain: a prospective randomized controlled trial
Provisionally accepted
- Zigong Fourth People's Hospital, Zigong, China
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Objective To compare the therapeutic effect of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and methylene blue injection on patients with discogenic low back pain. Methods A total of 40 patients with discogenic low back pain were randomly divided into two groups. 20 patients in group A received platelet-rich plasma injection and 20 patients in group B received methylene blue injection. Visual analogue scale (VAS), Japanese Orthopaedic Associationscores (JOA), Pfirrmann grading system and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were recorded in both groups before injection and 6 months after injection. Results Compared with group B, postoperative VAS score of group A was significantly decreased, while JOA score and ADC score were significantly increased (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in Pfirrmann grading system between the two groups after surgery(P > 0.05). In group A, the Pfirrmann grading system after surgery was lower than before surgery (P < 0.05), and the ADC score was higher than before surgery (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in Pfirrmann grading system between patients in group B before and after surgery (P > 0.05), ADC score was lower than that before surgery (P < 0.05). Conclusion Compared with methylene blue injection, platelet-rich plasma can significantly reduce pain, improve the function of lumbar spine, increase the diffusion ability of water molecules in the intervertebral disc, and improve the degree of intervertebral discogenic degeneration in patients with discogenic low back pain.
Keywords: Discogenic low back pain, Platelet-Rich Plasma, Pfirrmann grading system, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), JOA and VAS scores
Received: 17 Jun 2025; Accepted: 23 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Wang, Zhang, Xie and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiangyi Wang, Zigong Fourth People's Hospital, Zigong, China
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