ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a common cause of low back pain. Microenvironmental and cytological changes of intervertebral disc are main factors inducing disc degeneration. However, the underlying mechanism still remains unclear.OBJECTIVE: To review the application of platelet rich plasma (PRP) in the treatment of IDD.METHODS: First, the article structure was designed, and then WanFang and CNKI databases were retrieved for related articles using Chinese and English keywords. After analyzing the abstract and main body, the eligible articles were enrolled according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Surgical treatment has achieved remarkable outcomes in the treatment of middle- and late-stage IDD. However, there is still no good conservative therapy for early degeneration. PRP has been extensively applied in the treatment of IDD due to its improvement in tissue healing and regeneration. PRP has been proved to be capable of effectively delaying and even reversing IDD through cytology tests and animal experiments. Some clinical trials have shown that PRP treatment can ease low back pain, while others have demonstrated that the combination of PRP and other biological treatments can significantly improve IDD. Nowadays, most of the experiments are limited in the study of cytology and zoology rather than clinical trials, and there is still no unified standard for extraction method, dose and optimal injection time of PRP. Moreover, there is little reported on its side effects. Consequently, the curative effect of PRP for IDD needs to be verified further.