A disc protrusion can cause severe lower back and leg pain. Treatment options vary from conservative to surgical. Conservative therapies often include physical therapy, the use of muscle relaxants, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications and narcotics. Surgical options include trimming the protruding disc through a large incision, a small incision with the assistance of a microscope or laser. Some studies have demonstrated that surgical repair of a disc protrusion places the patient at increased risk for subsequent back problems in the future.
NQ is a 30+ y/o patient who has a long-standing history of lower back and leg pain. She had undone conservative therapy in addition to epidural steroid injections with little sustained benefit. She elected to undergo the Regenexx procedure where she used her own culture expanded cells to treat her back and leg pain. Her own bone marrow derived stem cells were grown in a state of the art lab and then injected under x-ray into the disc protrusion. thirty days after injection NQ reports a 90% reduction in her leg back and 40% improvement in her low back pain. Her lumbar spine MRI shows improvement as illustrated below. Two matching slices from several months before the procedure (on the left) and two from one month after the procedure (on the right). These are side views of the spine and since MRI’s literally slice across an area, I have included two slices to be as accurate as possible. The images are on an ultra high field magnet (3.0 T) and are also closely matched for imaging parameters (Before=Sag STIR: ET-12, TR-4166.7, TE-37.3; After=ET-12, TR-4166.7, TE-37.3). Note the red arrows in the before images show a large disc bulge that the yellow arrows in the after images show has been reduced.
She has been able to increase her level of activity and is enjoying this Memorial Day weekend with her family.
