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Review
. 2025 Jul 11;29(1):99.
doi: 10.1007/s11916-025-01414-y.

Clinical Efficacy and Risks of Intradiscal Orthobiological Injections: A Narrative Review

Macie A Serio  1 , Rachael Bartolina  1 , Sanjana Sudini  2 , Ellie M MacDonald  1 , Austin S Thomassen  1 , Sahar Shekoohi  3 , Azem A Chami  4 , Alan D Kaye  5
Affiliations
Review

Clinical Efficacy and Risks of Intradiscal Orthobiological Injections: A Narrative Review

Macie A Serio et al. Curr Pain Headache Rep. .

Abstract

Purpose of review: Chronic discogenic low back pain (LBP) is a common cause of disability worldwide. Current management options include conservative, surgical, and minimally invasive interventional injections. Intradiscal orthobiological injections of platelet-rich plasma (PRP), bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC), and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been introduced as regenerative treatment options.

Recent findings: Many studies have demonstrated improvements in patients' reported outcomes (PROMs) measuring the areas of pain, disability, function, and satisfaction. The results are promising with statistical improvements shown throughout various studies. Adverse events such as increased pain and infection have been reported with these injections; however, the complication rate has yet to be delineated. Numerous studies report no adverse events in their sample size. The present investigation summarizes recent evidence for the efficacy and risks of PRP, BMAC, and MSC injections.

Keywords: Bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC); Chronic LBP; Degenerative disc disease (DDD); Discogenic LBP; Intradiscal orthobiological injections; Low back pain (LBP); Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs); Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs); Platelet-rich plasma (PRP).

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics Approval: This article is based on previously conducted studies and does not contain any new studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. Competing interests: ADK is the Editor in Chief of CPHRs.

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