• Luca Miranda, Marco Quaranta, Francesco Oliva, and Nicola Maffulli.
• Department of Musculoskeletal Disorders, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Salerno, Via Salvador Allende, 43, Baronissi SA 84081, Italy.
• Br. Med. Bull. 2023 Jun 21; 146 (1): 738773-87.

BackgroundChronic low back pain, common from the sixth decade, negatively impacts the quality of life of patients and health care systems. Recently, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been introduced in the management of degenerative discogenic pain. The present study summarizes the current knowledge on the effectiveness of MSCs in patients with discogenic back pain.Sources Of DataWe performed a systematic review of the literature following the PRISMA guidelines. We searched PubMed and Google Scholar database, and identified 14 articles about management of chronic low back pain with MSCs injection therapy. We recorded information on type of stem cells employed, culture medium, clinical scores and MRI outcomes.Areas Of AgreementWe identified a total of 303 patients. Ten studies used bone marrow stem cells. In the other four studies, different stem cells were used (of adipose, umbilical, or chondrocytic origin and a pre-packaged product). The most commonly used scores were Visual Analogue Scale and Oswestry Disability Index.Areas Of ControversyThere are few studies with many missing data.Growing PointsThe studies analysed demonstrate that intradiscal injections of MSCs are effective on discogenic low-back pain. This effect may result from inhibition of nociceptors, reduction of catabolism and repair of injured or degenerated tissues.Areas Timely For Developing ResearchFurther research should define the most effective procedure, trying to standardize a single method.© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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