Trial reportJournal of pain research2026
Deep or Superficial? Autologous Conditioned Serum for Cervical Pain with Degenerative Disc Disease - a Randomized Controlled Trial.
Trial report in Journal of pain research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Cervical pain of degenerative origin presents a therapeutic challenge due to multiple potential pain generators and the lack of a clear correlation between radiological changes and symptom severity. Autologous conditioned serum (ACS, Orthokine) has demonstrated anti-inflammatory and regenerative effects in musculoskeletal disorders. Purpose: This study compared the efficacy of ultrasound-guided fascial versus periarticular administration of ACS in patients with cervical disc disease. Patients and Methods: In this single-center, prospective, randomized trial (ISRCTN38950110), 100 patients of the local population with MRI-confirmed cervical disc degeneration neck pain were allocated to two groups: A (n=50) - fascial infiltration (superficial ACS administration using the hydrodissection technique around the tender points - increased soreness area, which suggest Low Grade Inflammation, LGI) or B (n=50) - periarticular injection (deep administration around cervical facet joints along articular column). Both interventions were performed under ultrasound guidance by the same operator. Pain intensity (Numerical Rating Scale, NRS) and disability (Neck Disability Index, NDI) were assessed at baseline (Initial Assessment, IA) and after 6- (6W), and 12-weeks (12W) post-treatment, while functional test of dynamic proprioception (Dynamic Proprioception Test, DPT) was assessed at baseline (IA) and 12-weeks (12W) post-treatment. Results: Both groups showed significant improvement over time in NRS and NDI scores (p < 0.001), with no significant between-group differences or time × group interaction. Mean NRS decreased from 4.7 ± 2.2 to 2.1 ± 1.9, and mean NDI from 16.3 ± 7.7 to 8.3 ± 6.1 after 12 weeks. No relevant changes were observed in DPT results. Conclusion: Fascial and periarticular ACS injections provided comparable pain and disability reduction after 12 weeks, suggesting that fascial infiltration, being less invasive, may serve as an effective therapeutic alternative for neck pain in degenerative disc disease.
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.