Back Pain & Disc Degeneration and Platelet-rich plasma (PRP): what the trial registry contains
The ClinicalTrials.gov registry holds 5 records for PRP in Back Pain & Disc Degeneration: 1 recruiting now, 1 labelled Phase 3 or 4, across 4 countries. Snapshot 2026-08-29.
Why this is studied in Back Pain & Disc Degeneration
Degenerative disc disease is the usual registry target: dehydrated discs, annular tears and facet loading. Injected cells are proposed to restore disc matrix or damp inflammatory pain signalling. The complication is that imaging findings correlate poorly with pain, so a treatment can change the disc without changing the symptom, and vice versa.
What PRP means in this table
Platelet-rich plasma is a blood product, not a stem-cell product, though it is routinely sold as part of the same package. Preparation varies enormously between systems — platelet concentration, leukocyte content and activation all differ — so the label describes a category of procedure rather than a defined substance, which is the main reason its trial literature is so inconsistent.
The numbers
Every figure below comes from one reproducible query (degenerative disc disease x platelet-rich plasma) run against ClinicalTrials.gov API v2 on 2026-08-29.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Registered studies (all statuses) | 5 |
| Interventional studies in the sample | 5 |
| Recruiting right now | 1 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Terminated, withdrawn or suspended | 0 |
| Phase 3 or Phase 4 records | 1 |
| Countries with at least one site | 4 |
| Median planned enrolment | 42 participants |
| Largest single planned enrolment | 112 participants |
| First / most recent start year | 2016 — 2022 |
How mature is this evidence?
Only 1 of 5 registrations reached a confirmatory phase label, so most of what a clinic can cite is exploratory work by design.
The delivery record matters as much as the count: 2 completed against 0 abandoned or suspended, or 0% of everything registered.
| Phase label | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Not applicable | 3 | 60% |
| Phase 3 | 1 | 20% |
| Phase 1 | 1 | 20% |
Median planned enrolment is 42 participants (largest single study: 112). Trials of this size can describe safety and generate hypotheses; detecting a modest clinical benefit reliably usually needs substantially larger numbers with a control group.
Where the studies are
Research is not evenly spread: China carries about 25% of the country mentions among 4 countries with sites.
| Country | Studies with a site there |
|---|---|
| China | 1 |
| Taiwan | 1 |
| India | 1 |
| United States | 1 |
Legal pathway differs by country — see where cell therapy is legal, by country.
Who runs them
Lead sponsors split roughly 2 academic or hospital against 3 commercial — a commercial profile. Commercial sponsorship is not a red flag by itself, but it changes publication incentives.
- Shanghai Changzheng Hospital — 1 record
- Pei-Yuan Lee, MD — 1 record
- Stylianos Kapetanakis — 1 record
- Dr. Himanshu Bansal Foundation — 1 record
- Regenexx, LLC — 1 record
Representative registered studies
Recruiting studies first, then the most advanced phases. Each identifier links to the registry record, where eligibility criteria, outcome measures and contacts are published.
| Study | Phase | Status | Planned n | Lead sponsor | Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCT05287867 — Trial for Treating Painful Degenerative Disc Disease | n/a | Recruiting | 42 | Regenexx, LLC | 2022-05-06 |
| NCT04816747 — Intradiscal and Intra-articular Injection of Autologous Platelet-Rich-Plasma (PRP) in Patients With Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease and Facet Joint S | Phase 3 | Unknown | 50 | Stylianos Kapetanakis | 2022-04 |
| NCT04849429 — Intra-discal Injection of Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) Enriched With Exosomes in Chronic Low Back Pain | Phase 1 | Completed | 30 | Dr. Himanshu Bansal Foundation | 2021-09-10 |
| NCT02983747 — Autologous Platelet Rich Plasma on Low Back Pain | n/a | Unknown | 112 | Shanghai Changzheng Hospital | 2019-11-01 |
| NCT03197415 — Platelet-rich Plasma for Low Back Pain | n/a | Completed | 30 | Pei-Yuan Lee, MD | 2016-04-22 |
What this page does and does not tell you
These figures describe effort, not outcome. Published results, with their control arms and endpoints, are where benefit is decided.
If a clinic offers you this today, the useful question is not "is there research?" but "which of these registered studies is mine part of, and if none, what evidence applies to the exact product I am being sold?" The Provider Question Builder turns that into a scored checklist.
Frequently asked
How many PRP studies for Back Pain & Disc Degeneration are recruiting right now?
1 of 5 registered records were listed as recruiting in the 2026-08-29 snapshot. Recruitment status changes frequently; the registry record is authoritative.
Is PRP an approved treatment for Back Pain & Disc Degeneration?
Registration on ClinicalTrials.gov is not approval. Approval is granted by a regulator for a specific product and indication after review of submitted evidence. 5 registered studies tell you research exists, not that a product cleared review.
How advanced is the research on PRP for Back Pain & Disc Degeneration?
1 of 5 records carry a Phase 3 or Phase 4 label and 2 are marked completed. Registrations run from 2016 to 2022.
Registry and literature counts retrieved 2026-08-29 (ClinicalTrials.gov API v2; PubMed E-utilities). Registration or publication volume measures research activity, not effectiveness or approval. Educational information — not medical advice; verify product, indication, legal pathway and evidence with an independent qualified physician. Page generated 2026-08-29. See our editorial standards.
More on this condition
- Back Pain & Disc Degeneration: cell-therapy evidence and registered trials
- How much does stem cell therapy for Back Pain & Disc Degeneration cost? (2026)
- Back Pain & Disc Degeneration stem cell therapy — your questions answered (2026)
- Back Pain & Disc Degeneration: cell-therapy evidence by therapy class
Download the query data
Query totals are full API matches; status, phase and country counts describe the first up to 400 returned records per query. Query classes overlap and must not be summed as unique trials. Counts are not treatment outcomes. Snapshot: 2026-08-29. Methods and field definitions.