Trial reportJournal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)2012
Hypertonic dextrose injections (prolotherapy) for knee osteoarthritis: results of a single-arm uncontrolled study with 1-year follow-up.
Trial report in Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 30 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Treatment of Temporomandibular Dysfunction With Hypertonic Dextrose Injection: A Randomised Clinical Trial of Efficacy
Effectiveness of Neuroprolotherapy With Home Physical Therapy Against Isolated Physical Therapy for the Treatment of Patellar Chondromalacia
The Level of Cartilage Oligomeric Matrix Protein (COMP) and Urinary C-Terminal Telopeptides of Type II Collagen (uCTX-II) After Prolotherapy Intervention and The Functional Outcome in Patient With Knee Osteoarthritis
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 98 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prolotherapy as a Regenerative Treatment in the Management of Chronic Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Pooled it
- Prolotherapy for Osteoarthritis and Tendinopathy: a Descriptive Review.Current rheumatology reports · 2017Pooled it
- Hypertonic dextrose injections (prolotherapy) in the treatment of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2016Pooled it
- 4-Week Comparative Outcomes of Standard Physiotherapy, Balneotherapy Plus Physiotherapy and Dextrose Prolotherapy in Patients with Low Back Pain: A Non-Randomized Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Trial
- Efficacy of Intra-Articular Hypertonic Dextrose (Prolotherapy) for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Annals of family medicine · 2020Trial
- Dextrose and morrhuate sodium injections (prolotherapy) for knee osteoarthritis: a prospective open-label trial.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2014Trial
- Dextrose prolotherapy for knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.Annals of family medicineTrial
- Hypertonic dextrose prolotherapy in osteoarthritis: mechanisms, efficacy, and future research directions.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Review
- The effect of dextrose prolotherapy on patients diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis: A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of interventional studies.Health science reports · 2024Review
- Comparison of Dextrose Prolotherapy and Triamcinolone Intraarticular Injection on Pain and Function in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis - A Randomized Clinical Trial.Anesthesiology and pain medicine · 2023Article
- Effectiveness of Prolotherapy Combined with Physical Therapy Versus Physical Therapy Only for Frozen Shoulder: A Case Report.The American journal of case reports · 2022Article
- Review
- A Comprehensive Update of Prolotherapy in the Management of Osteoarthritis of the Knee.Orthopedic reviews · 2022Article
- Combine Approach of Proximal Fibula Osteotomy (PFO) Followed by Intra-Articular Dextrose Prolotherapy in Severe Medial Knee Osteoarthritis.Journal of pain research · 2022Article
- Xylitol Inhibits Growth and Blocks Virulence inMicroorganisms · 2021Article
- Adding Ozone to Dextrose and Somatropin for Intra-articular Knee Prolotherapy: A Randomized Single-Blinded Controlled Trial.Anesthesiology and pain medicine · 2020Article
- Hypertonic glucose inhibits growth and attenuates virulence factors of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.BMC microbiology · 2020Article
- Glucose enhances aggrecan expression in chondrocytes via the PKCα/p38-miR141-3p signaling pathway.Journal of cellular physiology · 2018Article
- Efficacy of intra-articular hypertonic dextrose prolotherapy versus normal saline for knee osteoarthritis: a protocol for a triple-blinded randomized controlled trial.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2018Article
- Short-Term Outcomes in Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis With 4 Bone Marrow Concentrate Injections.Clinical medicine insights. Arthritis and musculoskeletal disorders · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe objective of this study was to determine whether prolotherapy, an injection-based complementary treatment for chronic musculoskeletal conditions, improves pain, stiffness, and function in adults with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (KOA) compared to baseline status.
designThis was a prospective, uncontrolled study with 1-year follow-up.
settingThe study was conducted in an outpatient setting.
participantsAdults with at least 3 months of symptomatic KOA, recruited from clinical and community settings, participated in the study.
interventionsParticipants received extra-articular injections of 15% dextrose and intra-articular prolotherapy injections of 25% dextrose at 1, 5, and 9 weeks, with as-needed treatments at weeks 13 and 17. OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome measure was the validated Western Ontario McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Secondary outcome measure was the validated Knee Pain Scale (KPS). Tertiary outcome measure was procedure-related pain severity and participant satisfaction.
resultsThirty-six (36) participants (60 ± 8.7 years old, 21 female) with moderate-to-severe KOA received an average of 4.3 ± 0.7 prolotherapy injection sessions over a 17-week treatment period and reported progressively improved scores during the 52-week study on WOMAC and KPS measures. Participants reported overall WOMAC score improvement 4 weeks after the first injection session (7.6 ± 2.4 points, 17.2%), and continued to improve through the 52-week follow-up (15.9 ± 2.5 points, p<0.001, 36.1%). KPS scores improved in both injected (p<0.001) and uninjected knees (p<0.05). Prescribed low-dose opioid analgesia effectively treated procedure-related pain. Satisfaction was high and there were no adverse events. Female gender, age 46-65 years old, and body-mass index of 25 kg/m(2) or less were associated with greater improvement on the WOMAC instrument.
conclusionsIn adults with moderate to severe KOA, dextrose prolotherapy may result in safe, significant, sustained improvement of knee pain, function, and stiffness scores. Randomized multidisciplinary effectiveness trials including evaluation of potential disease modification are warranted to further assess the effects of prolotherapy for KOA.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.