SynthesisMedicine2020
Effects of dextrose prolotherapy on tendinopathy, fasciopathy, and ligament injuries, fact or myth?: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of dextrose prolotherapy versus placebo/other non-surgical treatments on pain in chronic plantar fasciitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials.Journal of foot and ankle research · 2023Pooled it
- Medical imaging for plantar heel pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of foot and ankle research · 2022Pooled it
- The effectiveness of dextrose prolotherapy in plantar fasciitis: A systemic review and meta-analysis.Medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Diagnosis of chronic Achilles tendinopathy in athletes and its treatment with prolotherapy and paratenon stripping.Skeletal radiology · 2026Review
- An Observational Cohort Study of Wharton's Jelly Tissue Allografts for Posterior Tibial Tendon Degeneration.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Rationale and methodology for injection therapy to treat rotator cuff disease: a scoping review.Clinics in shoulder and elbow · 2025Article
- Is Dextrose Prolotherapy More Effective Than Steroids in the Treatment of Distal Semimembranous Tendinopathy?Cureus · 2024Article
- Lower extremity ultrasound-guided interventions: tendon, ligament, and plantar fascia.Skeletal radiology · 2023Review
- Treatment of Painless Nodules With Glucopuncture in Dupuytren's Disease in Men: A Clinical Case.Cureus · 2022Article
- Comparison of Clinical and Ultrasound Imaging Outcomes Between Corticosteroid and Hypertonic Dextrose Injections for Chronic Supraspinatus Tendinopathy.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2022Article
- Acupuncture points injection mitigates chronic pain through transient receptor potential V1 in mice.Iranian journal of basic medical sciences · 2022Article
- Neurofascial Dextrose Prolotherapy for Managing Chronic Ankle Ligament Injury.Anesthesiology and pain medicine · 2022Article
- Prolotherapy as an intervention for chronic, refractory musculoskeletal pain.Saudi journal of anaesthesiaArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesProlotherapy or proliferative therapy is a treatment option for damaged connective tissues involving the injection of a solution (proliferant) which theoretically causes an initial cell injury and a subsequent "proliferant" process of wound healing via modulation of the inflammatory process. Nonetheless, the benefits of dextrose prolotherapy have not been adequately evaluated. Therefore, the present study assesses the effectiveness and superiority of prolotherapy separately in treating dense fibrous connective tissue injuries.
methodsPubMed, Scopus, and Embase were searched from the earliest record to February 18, 2019. This study included randomized controlled trials whichBoth analysis at individual studies level and pooled meta-analysis were performed.
resultsTen trials involving 358 participants were included for review. At study level, the majority of comparisons did not reveal significant differences between dextrose prolotherapy and no treatment (or placebo) regarding pain control. The meta-analysis showed dextrose prolotherapy was effective in improving activity only at immediate follow-up (i.e., 0-1 month) (standardized mean difference [SMD]: 0.98; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.40-1.50; I = 0%); and superior to corticosteroid injections only in pain reduction at short-term follow-up (i.e., 1-3 month) (SMD: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.14-1.27; I = 51%). No other significant SMDs were found in this analysis.
conclusionsThere is insufficient evidence to support the clinical benefits of dextrose prolotherapy in managing dense fibrous tissue injuries. More high-quality randomized controlled trials are warranted to establish the benefits of dextrose prolotherapy. REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO (CRD42019129044).
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.