Platelet-Rich Plasma Injection Alleviates Low Back Pain Involving Sacroiliac Joint

HealthDay News — 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 September 27 in Pain Practice.¹

Varun Singla, MD, from the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow, India, and colleagues examined the efficacy and safety of PRP vs methylprednisolone in ultrasound-guided SIJ injection for low back pain. 

Forty patients with chronic low back pain diagnosed with SIJ pathology were randomized into 2 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 6 weeks and at 3 months. In Group S the efficacy of steroid injection was reduced to 25% at 3 months, while in Group P it was 90%. 

Patients receiving PRP had a reduction of visual analogue scale score to over 50% from baseline. There was initial improvement in the Modified Oswestry Disability Questionnaire scores and Short Form Health Survey scores for up to 4 weeks in Group S, followed by further deterioration at 3 months; in Group P both scores improved gradually for up to 3 months.

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

Look at this video for an ultrasound-guided sacroiliac joint injection:

Reference

1. Singla V, Batra YK, Bharti N, Goni VG, Marwaha N. Steroid versus platelet-rich plasma in ultrasound-guided sacroiliac joint injection for chronic low back pain. Pain Pract. 2016 Sep 27. doi: 10.1111/papr.12526 [Epub ahead of print]