Effects of Steroid, Dextrose Prolotherapy, and Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections in Knee Joint OA Patients

November 17, 2025 updated by: Shahid sarwar, Lincoln University College

A Comparative Study on Effects of Steroid, Dextrose Prolotherapy, and Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections to Lessen Pain in Knee Osteoarthritis Patients

The novelty of thisstudy lies in its comparative assessment of three latest intra-articular injection therapies including steroid injections, dextrose prolotherapy, and PRP, for knee OA associated impairments, with a focus on long-term efficacy and safety profile. While prior studies may have assessed one or two of these treatments individually therefore this protocol is systematically designed.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Osteo Arthritis (OA) is one of the chronic, Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) categorized by the progressive loss of articular cartilage, leading to persistent joint pain, stiffness in the joints along with reduced mobility.

Knee OA has been documented as one of the principal causes of disability across the globe, with significantly higher incidence rate owing to physical trauma to joint, advancing age, obesity, and sedentary lifestyles etc. Management strategies for knee OA include following options, conservative management that include physiotherapy, adjunct therapies, pharmacological options and eventually surgical intervention such as knee replacements. Within the last few years, lots of focus has been placed on application of intra-articular injections for the knee joint which are reportedly found very effective in managing symptoms and altering the course of the disease without being too invasive. Among these, Corticosteroid Injections, Dextrose Prolotherapy and Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) injections stand out as the most common for the knee joint, each with its own unique mode of action and varying degree of effectiveness.

Corticosteroid intra-articular injections are known to be one of the most effective treatments. These injections provide relief in pain to joint inflammation targeting the synovial membrane through very potent anti-inflammatories injected directly into the joint.

Primary benefit of these injections is the speed of recovery with which pain is lessened and function of joint back to normal. A troublesome point of this approach is the pain relief time which is limited only a few weeks.

Literature has shown that excessive administration of corticosteroid intra-articular injections has resulted in the degradation of cartilage and narrowing of articular space, which could be antecedent to OA progression. As demonstrated in a randomized clinical trial, patients who were exposed to intra-articular triamcinolone at three-month intervals for a two-year period, experienced more cartilage volume loss over time, compared to placebo group participants highlighting the need for caution in regard to corticosteroids in the treatment of knee OA.

Dextrose prolotherapy is defined as a self augmenting injection therapy in w Dextrose prolotherapy is a unique approach with improvements in pain and function that persist over time, however, this approach likely takes a longer time for relief as compared to that of corticosteroids. Advantage of this therapeutic modality with PRP injections is that they are both anti inflammatory and regenerative in nature and thus, they provide both immediate and prolonged advantages excluding any significant risk to the patient.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

72

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:Inclusion criteria include patients aged 40-80 years, diagnosed with knee OA having Kellgren- Lawrence grades 2-4(Gelber, 2024) having history of persistent knee pain from at least last six months -

Patients Exclusion reporting with history of recent knee surgery, patients suffering from inflammatory joint diseases for example rheumatoid arthritis, having any active body infection, diabetic patients with de ranged HbA1c, pregnant and breast-feeding females will be excluded.:

-

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intra articular steroid injection
Participants will receive intra-articular injections of corticosteroid such as methylprednisolone in order to reduce inflammation and manage pain.
Procedure: Intra articular steroid injection
Participants will receive intra-articular injections of corticosteroid such as methylprednisolone in order to reduce inflammation and manage pain.
Experimental: Intra articular PRP
Participants will receive PRP, derived from the own blood of patient, which will be processed in laboratory to concentrate platelets containing growth factors to provide support in tissue repair.
Procedure: Intra articular PRP
Participants will receive PRP, derived from the own blood of patient, which will be processed in laboratory to concentrate platelets containing growth factors to provide support in tissue repair.
Experimental: Intra articular dextrose prolotherapy
Participants will receive dextrose prolotherapy injections, in which a hypertonic dextrose solution that is typically 25% will be injected into the knee joint in order to stimulate joint tissue regeneration.
Other: Intra articular dextrose prolotherapy
Participants will receive dextrose prolotherapy injections, in which a hypertonic dextrose solution that is typically 25% will be injected into the knee joint in order to stimulate joint tissue regeneration.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
NPRS
Time Frame: 9 months
The Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) is a validated, self-reported measure used to assess pain intensity. Participants rate their current knee pain on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates "no pain" and 10 represents "worst imaginable pain." NPRS scores will be recorded at baseline and at designated follow-up intervals to evaluate the effectiveness of steroid, dextrose prolotherapy, and platelet-rich plasma injections in reducing pain among patients with knee osteoarthritis.
9 months
WOMAC
Time Frame: 9 months

The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) is a validated, disease-specific, self-administered questionnaire used to assess pain, stiffness, and physical function in patients with knee and hip osteoarthritis. It consists of 24 items divided into three subscales:

  • Pain (5 items)
  • Stiffness (2 items)
  • Physical Function (17 items) Each item is rated on a Likert scale (0-4) or VAS (0-100 mm) depending on the version used. Higher scores indicate greater pain, stiffness, or functional limitation. WOMAC scores will be recorded at baseline and follow-up intervals to evaluate treatment efficacy across steroid, dextrose prolotherapy, and platelet-rich plasma injection groups.
9 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Lincoln University College

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Shahid Sarwar, Lincolin university college Malaysia

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

November 28, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

July 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 17, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 17, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

November 21, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 21, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 17, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • LUC/CPGS/FOS/20250318/006

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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