Is Prolotherapy Safe?

In 1993, Dr. Thomas Dorman published a study of prolotherapy injections in the Journal of Orthopaedic Medicine . Dr. Dorman surveyed 95 physicians experienced in prolotherapy injections and representing 1,092 years of cumulative practice. These physicians reportedly treated a total of 494,845 patients. Of these,343,897 were treated for low back pain, 98,430 for other areas of spinal pain, and 27% were treated for peripheral joint pain. 14 cases of serious complications requiring hospitalization were reported. 66 minor complications were reported, including 29 cases of allergic reactions and 29 cases of pneumothorax (where the lung cavity is pierced by the needle. All of these minor cases resolved without serious complications. Therefore, the risk of complications was reported as 80 out of 494,845, or 0.00016 percent! At the same time, 75-90 percent of these patients were cured of their chronic pain with prolotherapy injections. Since 1955, one fatality and 3 cases of serious permanent neurologic impairment have been reported in the medical literature due to prolotherapy injections. Can you think of any other medical procedure that is as safe. Consider that in the U.S., over 20,00 deaths occur from acetaminophen (Tylenol, etc.) complications every year.