Whitney Luke, MD
What are spine orthobiologics?
Orthobiologic injection-based therapy is a safe and effective alternative remedy to surgery, steroid injections and therapy for treating chronic back pain, degenerative disc disease, spinal curvatures, spine injuries and spondylolisthesis (as well as osteoarthritis and tendinopathy from Ohio State Sports Medicine).
Orthobiologics, a type of regenerative medicine or cell-based therapy, use substances found in your body to treat injuries or conditions affecting your muscles, tendons and ligaments. Your doctor may prescribe medication to treat the symptoms associated with these conditions. Orthobiologics seeks to repair and regenerate human cells to treat problems that don’t heal on their own.
Many people who seek a more natural way to address their chronic back pain choose spine orthobiologics.
Results from orthobiologics can be seen as early as a few weeks after the injection and can last a year or longer, at which time you may choose to receive another injection.
How spine orthobiologics can help you
Whitney Luke, MD, and Safdar Khan, MD, are spine orthobiologics experts at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. They explain the program’s treatments at Ohio State and how this multidisciplinary treatment program promotes harnessing your body’s own healing potential.
How to get started with spine orthobiologics
Our spine physicians will evaluate your condition and medical history to determine if orthobiologics might work for you. Patients with blood disorders and those requiring anti-inflammatory medicines may not be good candidates.
Orthobiologic treatments are an out-of-pocket expense not covered by most insurance companies. Treatments start at $650.
How do orthobiologics work?
Our orthobiologics, or platelet-rich plasma (PRP), procedure starts with performing a small blood draw and isolating the platelets that contain healing proteins via a centrifuge.
Ohio State Spine Care uses an advanced system which allows our physicians to customize the cell content, platelet concentration and blood volume specific to each patient’s needs.
Those platelets are then injected into the problem joint or tendon. The entire process takes about 30 minutes.
Why choose Ohio State Spine Care for spine orthobiologics treatment?
Our physicians recognize and understand the pain characteristics of back conditions. This helps us develop an effective, personalized treatment plan for you. Your treatment most likely will include several options, and you will be the primary decision-maker.
We always start with the least invasive nonsurgical treatment option before recommending any spine surgery.
- Comprehensive care: Our experts will diagnose the severity of your condition and know which approach will restore you to the highest level of function possible with the least invasive treatment.
- Innovation: Ohio State Spine Care uses an advanced system in its procedures, allowing our physicians to customize the cell content, platelet concentration and blood volume specific to each patient’s needs.
- Expert care: Our model of care is working to improve every aspect of your joint health. This includes education, research partnerships to further advance the field of orthobiologics and employing the best physical therapists who work to optimize your strength and function after your procedure.
- Ongoing research: Our dedication to research provides you with the safest, most evidence-based interventions. Our research outcomes database allows us to track patient progress for up to two years to optimize treatment plans.
Our spine orthobiologics doctors