PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Ivanhoe Newswire) – When over-the-counter pain relievers, physical therapy, and even yoga fail to ease an aching back, surgery may start to look like the only option. Before going under the knife, some patients are opting for regenerative medicine, using biologic tissues from a patient’s own body to heal an injury. A Pennsylvania orthopedic specialist has designed a new biologic therapy, called SpineRenu that is bringing many patients much-needed relief.
Fifty-year-old Jeff Lane had back pain that started in his 30s, and over the years, was sometimes excruciating.
“I just felt this shot of pain that went, literally, from my skull to my feet,” Lane said.
He tried pain relievers, prescription meds, stretching, yoga, and even back disc surgery but, nothing brought long-lasting relief.
That’s when a friend referred him to orthopedic specialist, Dr. Brian Shiple. Dr. Shiple specializes in regenerative orthopedic medicine, including one protocol he designed for disc problems, called SpineRenu.
“When we are performing our SpineRenu program, we’re actually making four different products from the patient’s blood and bone marrow,” Dr. Shiple explained.
Dr. Shiple draws a patient’s blood and makes platelet rich plasma, or PRP, and a platelet product used to treat damaged, inflamed nerves. Then, he extracts water from the leftover plasma to treat and heal the injured annular disc.
“It ends up with a very thick, yellow looking fluid, and we inject that into the annular tear,” Dr. Shiple added.
Finally, Dr. Shiple treats the bony joints at the end of the spine with concentrated bone marrow.
Lane exclaimed, “I was virtually pain free the next day.”
Before the SpineRenu therapy, Lane was cautious around his three rambunctious dogs, especially Greta, who weighs 140 pounds.
“I can play around with her, now, and not worry about hurting my back,” Lane added.
The SpineRenu procedure is performed in the office as an outpatient procedure, using a tiny needle and x-ray guidance for the injections. It is not covered by insurance and can run from eight to $14,000. While PRP is not FDA-approved, PRP and bone marrow concentrate injections can be offered in an office setting for what’s called off-label treatment of spine and disc injuries.
Contributors to this news report include: Cyndy McGrath, Producer; Kirk Manson, Videographer; Roque Correa, Editor.
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Sources:
https://drshiple.com/services/spine-renu/
https://www.hss.edu/condition-list_regenerative-medicine.asp
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6220002/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30717500/
MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
RESEARCH SUMMARY
TOPIC: SPINERENU: BIOLOGIC FIX FOR THE BACK
REPORT: MB #5034
BACKGROUND: Some 16 million adults, which is 8 percent of all adults, experience persistent or chronic back pain, and as a result are limited in certain everyday activities. Back pain is the sixth most costly condition in the United States. Health care costs and indirect costs due to back pain are over $12 billion per year. Compared to adults without back pain, larger proportions of adults with any type of back pain report fair to poor mental and physical health. For example, the proportion of adults with back pain reporting fair to poor physical health — 25 percent — is more than double that of those without back pain — 11 percent.
DIAGNOSING: It is important to seek medical attention if the back pain persists past a few weeks, is severe and doesn’t improve with rest, spreads down one or both legs, causes weakness or numbness in one or both legs, or is accompanied by unexplained weight loss. Your doctor can diagnose you with chronic back pain and prescribe treatment after performing x-rays, MRI or CT scans, blood tests, bone scans, and nerve studies.
(Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/back-pain/symptoms-causes/syc-20369906
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/back-pain/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20369911)
NEW TREATMENTS: In addition to SpineRenu, a new technology, called High-Frequency Neuromodulation, can relieve symptoms of people suffering from chronic back pain. High-frequency neuromodulation is a minimally invasive, outpatient procedure. Patients first undergo a trial procedure to “test drive” this technology for 5 to 7 days, during which both pain levels and activity are closely monitored. Many patients become quite a bit more active during the trial and report sleeping much better. Afterwards, the stimulator leads are removed, and patients with successful trials will be candidates for the permanent implant.
(Source: https://www.lapain.com/blog/pain-pathway-new-technology-for-treatment-resistant-back-pain)
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS REPORT, PLEASE CONTACT:
Brian Shiple
If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Marjorie Bekaert Thomas at mthomas@ivanhoe.com
