Trial reportJournal of rehabilitation medicine2021
Changes in levels of cartilage oligomeric proteinase and urinary C-terminal telopeptide of type II collagen in subjects with knee osteoarthritis after dextrose prolotherapy: A randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Journal of rehabilitation medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Intra-articular Hyaluronic Acid Injections May Be Beneficial in Patients with Less Advanced Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of Prolotherapy for Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Comparison of the efficacy of ultrasound-guided dextrose 25% hypertonic prolotherapy and intra-articular normal saline injection on pain, functional limitation, and range of motion in patients with knee osteoarthritis; a randomized controlled trial.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Trial
- [Functionality/isokinetic work of quadriceps in patients with gonarthrosis managed with prolotherapy].Revista medica del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social · 2023Trial
- Structural and Molecular Effects of Dextrose on Cartilage: A Scoping Review.Current rheumatology reviews · 2026Article
- Advancements in Regenerative Therapies for Orthopedics: A Comprehensive Review of Platelet-Rich Plasma, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Peptide Therapies, and Biomimetic Applications.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Comparison of Different Molecular Weights of Intra-Articular Hyaluronic Acid Injections for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Level I Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Hypertonic dextrose prolotherapy in osteoarthritis: mechanisms, efficacy, and future research directions.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Review
- Advanced Non-Operative Interventions for Anterior Knee Pain.Current reviews in musculoskeletal medicine · 2024Review
- 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
- Effectiveness of Prolotherapy Combined with Physical Therapy Versus Physical Therapy Only for Frozen Shoulder: A Case Report.The American journal of case reports · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the effects of dextrose prolotherapy in patients with knee osteoarthritis on the levels of serum cartilage oligomeric proteinase and urinary C-terminal telopeptide of type II collagen, and on the Western Ontario McMaster Universities Index and numerical rating scale score for pain.
methodsA randomized controlled trial, in which participants were randomly allocated into 2 groups, receiving injections of either hyaluronic acid or dextrose prolotherapy. The hyaluronic acid group received 5 injections, 1 each on weeks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and the dextrose prolotherapy group received 3 injections, 1 each on weeks 1, 5 and 9. Serum cartilage oligomeric proteinase, urinary C-terminal telopeptide of type II collagen, Western Ontario McMaster Universities Index score, and numerical rating scale score for pain were measured at baseline and 3 weeks after the last injection. Comparative analysis was conducted using Wilcoxon test within groups and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) test between groups.
resultsA total of 47 participants (21 allocated to hyaluronic acid, 26 allocated to dextrose prolotherapy) completed the protocol. Both interventions resulted in significant improvements in numerical rating scale scores for pain, total Western Ontario McMaster Universities Index scores, and its subscales score. However, the dextrose prolotherapy outperformed hyaluronic acid in numerical rating scale score for pain and level of urinary C-terminal telopeptide of type II collagen, with score changes differences of 0.93 (p = 0.042) and 0.34 (p = 0.048), respectively. No significant changes in level of serum cartilage oligomeric proteinase were found in either group.
conclusionDextrose prolotherapy is an alternative injection therapy for knee osteoarthritis, which was found to be associated with a significant reduction in urinary C-terminal telopeptide of type II collagen compared with hyaluronic acid injection. Neither injection method resulted in reduced serum cartilage oligomeric proteinase.
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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 Socratic graph.