ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Gazzetta Medica Italiana - Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2019 June;178(6):438-43

DOI: 10.23736/S0393-3660.18.03838-X

Copyright © 2018 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Efficacy of dextrose prolotherapy in elite professional male soccer players with chronic osteitis pubis

Ali EROGLU ¹, Aylin SARI ² ✉

¹ Department of Sports Medicine, Erenkoy Physical Treatment and Rehabilitation Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey; ² Department of Physical Treatment and Rehabilitation, Erenkoy Physical Treatment and Rehabilitation Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

BACKGROUND: Groin injury syndromes estimated to be 10-18% per year in soccer players. Chronic Osteitis Pubis and its treatment are extremely complex in the groin injury syndromes. Dextrose prolotherapy (DPT) is an alternative treatment for management of chronic osteitis pubis. Our objective was to investigate the efficacy of dextrose prolotherapy (DPT) for the management of chronic osteitis pubis (OP) in athletes.
METHODS: Nineteen elite professional soccer players with chronic recalcitrant OP were included the study. Retrospective data analysis of patients with chronic OP was conducted. DPT was applied once a week, three times in total by the same sports medicine physician to symphysis pubis, suprapubic abdominal insertions and the thigh adductors. Visual analog scale (VAS) was used for pain evaluation and the Nirschl Pain Phase Scale (NPPS) used for the evaluation of functional impairment due to pain.
RESULTS: All VAS and NPPS scores were significantly better after each injection compared with baseline (P<0.05). The VAS score reduced from 51.7±1.82 to 2.83±1.29. In addition, NPPS score was reduced from 4.44±0.92 to 2.01±0.84.
CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that DPT can be an effective method for reducing pain and functional improvement of patients with OP.

KEY WORDS: Glucose; Prolotherapy; Osteitis; Soccer; Athletic injuries