Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39968415›Full record

SynthesisExperimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.)2025

Is platelet-rich plasma better than steroids as epidural drug of choice in lumbar disc disease with radiculopathy? Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Sathish Muthu, Vibhu Krishnan Viswanathan, Prakash Gangadaran

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Sathish MuthuDepartment of Spine Surgery, Orthopaedic Research Group, Coimbatore, India.
Vibhu Krishnan ViswanathanDepartment of Spine Surgery, Orthopaedic Research Group, Coimbatore, India.
Prakash GangadaranDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The current meta-analysis was performed to analyze the efficacy and safety of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as an epidural injectate, in comparison with steroids in the management of radiculopathy due to lumbar disc disease (LDD). We conducted independent and duplicate searches of the electronic databases (PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library) in March 2024 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) analyzing the efficacy of epidural PRP for pain relief in the management of LDD. Animal or

Indexed as

Intervertebral Disc DegenerationIntervertebral Disc DisplacementPlatelet-Rich PlasmaRadiculopathySteroidsHumansInjections, EpiduralLumbar VertebraePain ManagementRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTreatment OutcomeSteroidsbiologicsdegenerative disc diseaseepidural steroidpain reliefPRP

Identifiers

PMID39968415
PMCPMC11832311

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.