Cervical facet joint platelet-rich plasma in people with chronic whiplash-associated disorders: A prospective case series of short-term outcomes

• Published in: Interventional Pain Medicine (Online) 2022-06, Vol.1 (2), p.100078, Article 100078
• Main Authors: Smith, Ashley, Andruski, Ben, Deng, George, Burnham, Robert
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cervical facet joint; Chronic pain; Neck pain; Original; Platelet-rich plasma; Whiplash associated disorders
• ISSN: 2772-5944; 2772-5944
• DOI: 10.1016/j.inpm.2022.100078

To explore the safety and feasibility of a single autologous injection of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in cervical facet joints of people with chronic WAD and facet-mediated pain, and explore the association between pain relief reported with diagnostic medial branch blocks (MBBs) and 3-months post-PRP. A prospective case series of people with chronic whiplash-associated disorders and cervical facet joint mediated pain in a community setting. A single autologous PRP injection was provided to cervical facet joints under ultrasound and fluoroscopic guidance. Adverse events were recorded one-week, and measures of pain (numerical pain rating scale - NPRS) and disability (Neck Disability Index - NDI) were collected prior to and 3-months following cervical facet joint PRP. People not reached for follow-up were considered failures for worst-case analysis. The correlation between percentage response to diagnostic cervical medial branch blocks (MBBs) and percentage pain relief reported at 3-months was also investigated. Forty-four people (82% female; mean age (SD): 45.2 (10.8) years) underwent cervical facet joint PRP. There was a significant improvement in pain and disability following PRP. Seventy percent of people exceeded MCID for pain. For NDI scores, 80% of people exceeded MCID. Forty-one percent of people reported greater than 50% relief of pain 3-months post-cervical facet joint PRP. There was no significant correlation between percentage relief of pain with cervical MBBs and percentage relief of pain 3-months post-PRP (r ​= ​0.06, p ​= ​0.73). There were no adverse events reported. In people with chronic WAD and facet-mediated pain, preliminary data suggests that PRP is safe and it is feasible to move forwards with randomized studies to further investigate efficacy and effectiveness. •Cervical facet joint platelet-rich plasma reduces chronic neck pain and disability.•The procedure is safe with no adverse results reported.•Response to diagnostic blocks and interventional pain relief was equivocal.