Regenexx Lumbar Disc Patient Successes
Regenexx Lumbar Disc Procedure as an Alternative to Surgery
For the latest case reports on recently treated back patients, click here.
Our lumbar disc bulge research effort is a great example of how we’re committed to high quality cellular therapy. As pain management physicians, our initial interest is using stem cells for tissue repair was in the spine. The animal models had predicted great success. These researchers had just placed mesenchymal stem cells into a degenerated disc and it magically regenerated to about 80% of it’s pre-injury status. We went through an Institutional Review Board and got approval to place stem cells in the discs of a few human patients. We watched and were very excited to see absolutely nothing happen on MRI. We scratched our heads and wondered why this worked so well in animals, but not in people. When we investigated further there were big differences between the animal models and our patients. We then spent another 1-2 years trying to isolate those differences. After making significant changes to the procedure, we were able to finally obtain reliable results. Some three years after we began, we finally released this therapy to commercial patients. Here are some examples of successes. Realize that all of these patients would have needed surgery, but were only treated through a needle.
MRI Before Treatment MRI 3 Months After Treatment
32 year old with a many year history of chronic back and leg pain due to central L5-S1 disc bulge causing compression of both S1 nerve roots. 3 months after the Regenexx procedure, he had elimination of his symptoms. An MRI done 3 months later (on the right) shows significant reduction is size of disc bulge.
Case 2
A 28 year old female, who had years of back pain and intermittet leg pain after a failed microdiscectomy surgery.
1 month before Regenexxx Procedure 3 months after Regenexx Procedure
Notice that the disc bulge (circled) has flattened in the image on the right compared to the image on the left. The spinal canal diameter at this level has also increased from 1.0 cm to 1.2 cm.
Case 3
35 yo WM with a many year history of low back and leg pain as a result of a L4-L5 disc. Discography confirmed that this disc was causing most of his low back pain. The patient failed epidurals and physical therapy.
Notice the high intensity zone in the back of the disc on the left in the before picture (the whitish area in the back of the disc). This represents a tear that is liekly causing the bulge. Now note how on the right (3 months post procedure) that this tear goes away (no longer a big white area in the back of the disc). The patient reports 75% improvement in his symptoms.
Case 4
Late last year we hired a new cell biologist. After a few weeks on the job, it was clear that her back was killing her and her leg was numb. She was miserable and having trouble sitting in front of the sterile hoods. As she tells the story, “I was getting up from the kitchen table and my legs just went out from under me and I was in excruciating pain. I had tingling in my legs and was very numb, especially in my right leg. At its worst, the pain was at a 10 and I had lost all feeling in my right leg, all the way down to my foot and through my toes. ” We tried traditional then specialized epidurals to help her pain, but she would only get temporary relief. Her MRI showed a fairly good sized right sided disc bulge at L5-S1 with a large tear in the back of the disc. It was either surgery to cut out the back of the disc and lose her to months of rehab or offer to try the same stem cells she was culturing everyday. She chose to have the Regenexx procedure and here is her result:
“The pain gradually decreased in intensity over a period of about 6 months but was still present at the time of my re-injection. At the time of my re-injection in January, my pain was at about a 5-7 and I felt relief within the 1st week of treatment. My pain at its worst now is a 1 or 2 and it’s rare that I have any pain at all. I have regained all feeling in my right leg and foot as well. ”
Her films above show how the disc has decreased in size. The films above are the axial slices (you saw in half view). The top row above shows the disc in the white dashed circles, before on the left and after on the right. The bottom row of pictures above is an additional close up on the disc with the little double arrow measuring the extent of the disc.
The films below are matched sagittal slices, where the body is split from front to back. The white dashed circle shows the disc bulge which is easily seen in the left before picture, but not in the right after picture.
In conclusion, we practice what we preach, meaning we feel confident about the safety and efficacy of the Regenexx procedure to help treat disc bulges without surgery, so much that the people growing the cells don’t hesitate to use those cells to fix their own problems! As discussed in other blogs, the problem with surgically removing the back of this disc would mean that the disc would be weakened. We believe the Regenexx procedure allows us to strengthen the back of the disc while getting rid of the disc bulge.
