Bone marrow for back pain

 Some back pain patients may benefit from bone marrow grafts, suggests a study presented at the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

The procedure involves an injection of a concentrated form of bone marrow cellular aspirate into the spinal discs in the lower back, as a way of helping to repair damaged tissue in people with spinal disc degeneration.

US scientists tested the procedure on 22 people with disc degeneration. Surgeons took 60cc of iliac bone marrow aspirate from each volunteer and processed it in the laboratory to produce a highly concentrated bone marrow aspirate cellular concentrate. Each patient was given injections of their own bone marrow cells.

Feedback varied with some patients reporting no improvement and others saying their back pain had greatly improved.

Those who experienced improvement tended to then take less pain killers and become more active.

“Currently, when conservative treatment measures fail, therapeutic options are limited for individuals with back pain due to disc degeneration,” says Dr Donald Meyer. “Our goal is to help develop a safe, natural method to boost the body’s own capacity to heal discogenic pain.”

A large clinical trial is now needed to establish how safe and effective the procedure is.