Effectiveness of Amnion Allograft Injections in Patients With Degenerative Musculoskeletal Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Abstract

Amnion allograft injections have emerged as potential regenerative therapy for degenerative musculoskeletal diseases. In this study, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of amnion allograft injections in patients with degenerative musculoskeletal diseases. A search was conducted across the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases to identify studies reporting on amnion allograft injections in patients with degenerative musculoskeletal diseases. The outcomes assessed were pain reduction at different time points, physical functional improvements, and quality of life. In total, seven studies were included. The quality assessment indicated that only three studies had a low overall risk of bias. Pooled effect sizes indicated significant improvements in overall pain of -0.959 (95% confidence interval: -1.483 to -0.435, P < 0.001), pain at 2-4 wks of -2.609 (95% confidence interval: -3.334 to -1.884, P < 0.001), at 3-6 mos of 0.834 (95% confidence interval: -1.077 to -0.590, P < 0.001), and at 1-2 yrs of -0.518 (95% confidence interval: -1.025 to -0.011, P = 0.045), physical function of 0.679 (95% confidence interval: 0.202 to 1.156, P = 0.005), and quality of life of 1.407 (95% confidence interval: 0.273 to 2.541, P = 0.015). No significant covariant was identified by subgroup analyses. Results indicated that amnion allograft injections produced significant pain reduction, functional improvement, and quality of life enhancement in patients receiving injections compared to control groups, particularly in terms of pain reduction.