Studies Supporting Stem Cell & PRP Treatments

There were no clinically significant differences between the groups in leg or back pain intensity, subjective disability, or health-related quality of life over the 2-year follow-up

https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa064039?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub++0www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The 1-year outcomes were similar for patients assigned to early surgery and those assigned to conservative treatment with eventual surgery

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2553805/

Patients in both the surgery and the nonoperative treatment groups improved substantially over a 2-year period

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3065612/#!po=92.8571

Review paper

https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0303-8467(18)30186-0

However, this short-term result was significantly worsened due to a re-surgery rate at the index level of 18.7%. Moreover, it is possible that nucleoplasty has adverse effects resulting from the puncture and progressive degeneration. Therefore, indications for nucleoplasty should be critically reconsidered.

https://online.boneandjoint.org.uk/doi/abs/10.1302/0301-620X.101B12.BJJ-2019-0427.R1?journalCode=bjj

The addition of interbody fusion to posterolateral fusion was associated with a higher risk for additional surgery and showed no advantages in patient-reported outcome

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2938881/

Long-term improvement was not better after instrumented transpedicular fusion compared with cognitive intervention and exercises.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/399285

(OLD!) several low back disorders no advantage has been demonstrated for fusion over surgery without fusion, and complications of fusions are common. Randomized controlled trials are needed to compare fusion, surgery without fusion, and nonsurgical treatments in rigorously defined patient groups.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3784840/pdf/586_2003_Article_493.pdf

Even though we did not find a significant association between clinical outcome and complications after 2 years, the increased morbidity inflicted on an individual patient was not negligible.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2883775/pdf/nihms140559.pdf

https://journals.lww.com/spinejournal/Fulltext/2009/05010/Interventional_Therapies,_Surgery,_and.14.aspx

https://journals.lww.com/spinejournal/Fulltext/2006/09010/Evaluation_of_Surgical_Volume_and_the_Early.19.aspx

Surgeons and institutions with a high volume of lumbar total disc replacement cases have a reduction in key perioperative and postoperative parameters that provide a clinical and/or economic benefit. Surgeons may expect longer hospital stays, higher blood loss, and a higher rate of certain complications in their early experience with total disc replacement procedures, but there was no effect on clinical outcomes.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3100911/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3784840/pdf/586_2003_Article_493.pdf

Other Resources

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5072053/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28938891/

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1016/j.pmrj.2015.08.010

https://www.asianspinejournal.org/journal/view.php?doi=10.4184/asj.2017.11.3.380

https://academic.oup.com/painmedicine/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/pm/pnaa254/5899837

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6770415/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29141662/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27661661/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26156727/