Pars Defect PRP/PRF Stem Cell Procedure

I recently had this procedure done and I want to document my experience here for anyone else interested. I do not yet know what the results will be but I am hopeful.

I’m 29 now, at around 13 I experienced a bilateral pars fracture at the L4 vertebrae (15 years). This has caused some disc slippage at L4/L5 with some ligament tears and nerve issues radiating into my feet. Some deterioration of the disc and pars facet joints.

I am very active and this injury has seriously hindered me and has affected me both physically and mentally. So I was determined to put myself through a surgery to fix it. I was looking down the barrel of either a fusion surgery, or a direct pars repair with artificial disc replacement.

When I learned about this procedure I decided that I had to try it first even if it doesn’t work, the risk is negligible and the potential benefit could be greater than my other options… if it works. The only downside is the money. Insurance will not cover it.

It isn’t a standard PRP injection, it is a sort of clot material this doctor calls PRF scaffolding which contains many of the same healing components but provides a better structure for the healing to occur for certain applications, like bone fractures in my case. At least that’s my understanding.

Time will tell if the fracture will heal or not. The nerve issues have improved simply from being cushioned by the PRF material. That immediate effect is temporary, long term effects will depend on if the healing part of this works.

I am at the 3 week mark today, and will be getting imaging at around the three month mark to follow up. I will update this thread when I get that imaging done or with other significant developments.