A Long-Term Retrospective Observational Clinical Study Evaluating the Efficacy of Plasma Rich in Growth Factors (PRGF) in the Treatment of Back Pain

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Chronic back pain is a long-lasting disorder that is significantly associated with a reduction in the quality of life. Previously, the efficacy of intradiscal and epidural injections of plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF) was demonstrated at 6 months. The objective of this study was to retrospectively examine the medical records of these patients in order to determine whether the observed improvement at the 6-month follow-up was sustained over time. Methods PRGF efficacy was evaluated using validated questionnaires: Core Outcome Measure Index (COMI) Pain score, COMI Disability score, COMI total score, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Furthermore, an evaluation was conducted to determine whether the patients had undergone additional treatments. Results the results demonstrated that 85.2% of the 27 patients who were enrolled exhibited sustained improvement across all scales over a median follow-up period of 24 months. The results of all questionnaires administered at 24 months exhibited statistically significant differences when compared to the baseline data (p 0.05). Conclusions the results of this retrospective study demonstrate that treatment of chronic back pain with PRGF was effective in maintaining pain reduction and improving function for at least 24 months after the end of treatment.

Keywords

• Back pain
• Degenerative disc disease
• Growth factors
• Intervertebral disc degeneration
• Platelet-rich plasma
• PRGF