Progress in regenerative medicine: high-density platelet rich plasma and stem cell proliferation therapy for the treatment of musculoskeletal pain

Traditional dextrose prolotherapy originated in the 1930s and continues to be used successfully. In the 2000s, in- office platelet-rich plasma (PRP) prolotherapy was intro- duced. This method uses a patient’s own blood, centrifuged to concentrate growth factor–rich platelets as the prolifera- tion formula. In the past few years, physicians have began using adult stem cells, harvested from an individual’s fat tissue or bone marrow during an in-office procedure, then combined with the individual’s PRP as the proliferation formula for injection into injured musculoskeletal tissue.