Methods

Patient Characteristics

A total of 34 patients were treated for their chronic pain at Caring Medical, a private Prolotherapy practice in Oak Park, Illinois and followed for their response to Prolotherapy. The average age of patients was 57 years-old with 18 being male and 16 female. All patients were told by a medical doctor(s) that surgery was needed to resolve their pain and 91% were told that surgery was their only option. The patients represented 21 knees, five hips, two wrists, two ankles, two feet, one shoulder, and one lower back. The operations the patients were trying to avoid were 20 joint replacements, nine arthroscopic procedures, three fusions, and four tendon/ligament repairs. The reasons the patients chose not to have surgery varied: 34% natural medicine minded, 18% personal choice, 18% risks, 9% family decision, 3% expense, and 3% fear. Prior bad experience with surgery was not a reason any of the patients received Prolotherapy. Fifty-nine percent of the patients being treated knew of others who had benefited from Prolotherapy. The average length of pain patients reported prior to receiving Prolotherapy was 27 months. The average patient had seen 2.5 physicians prior to receiving Prolotherapy. The average patient was taking 1.1 medications for pain before receiving Prolotherapy. Thirty-two percent of patients were taking one pain medication per day before receiving Prolotherapy, and 18% were taking two to three pain medications per day. (See Table 2.)

Interventions

The participants received the Hackett-Hemwall technique of Prolotherapy. A 15% dextrose, 10% Sarapin and 0.2% lidocaine solution was used as the base solution. Patients being treated for peripheral joint degeneration also received 2IU of Human Growth Hormone injected into their joints. General inclusion criteria were a history of musculoskeletal pain and being told by a medical doctor/surgeon that surgery was needed, as well as being an appropriate Prolotherapy candidate. Guidelines for the latter included having joint motion at least 50% of normal, motivation to get better, a willingness to stop anti-inflammatory or narcotic medications, and determination to receive the necessary number of visits required for Prolotherapy to resolve or reduce the pain complaint.

Outcomes

An independent data collector (DP) was the sole person obtaining the patient information. The data was obtained before and after the patients had received their Prolotherapy treatments. Follow-up telephone contact was made when it had been at least three months since their last Prolotherapy session.

For the analysis of the patient data, patient percentages of the various responses were calculated by another independent data collector (DG), who also had no previous knowledge of Prolotherapy. These responses gathered from patients before Prolotherapy were then compared with the responses to the same questions after Prolotherapy.