Safety and Efficacy of PRP for Treatment of Disc Pain

The study will recruit 180 subjects: 60 suffering from lumbar discogenic pain, 60 suffering from thoracic discogenic pain and 60 suffering from cervical discogenic pain. In each arm 40 study subjects will be randomized to receive hemocyte autograft, while 20 will be randomized to receive contrast as the control group. All subjects will have blood drawn (50 cc) from any access site and have it prepared for hemocyte autograft. Using a 20 gauge introducer and 25 gauge disc needle, subjects randomized to active condition will have exactly 3 cc of hemocyte autograft placed in a 3 cc syringe while subjects randomized to placebo will have exactly 3 cc of saline placed in a 3 cc syringe. The syringe barrels and tubing will be completely covered with opaque tape so that the injector is blinded to the contents. For both conditions, 1-2 cc of designated injectant (PRP for active, saline for placebo) will be injected into the nucleus pulposus of each identified treatment level disc for lumbar; 0.5-1 cc for thoracic and 0.5-1 cc for cervical. Primary endpoint will be at 8 weeks after injection. After 8 weeks subjects who received placebo are eligible for crossover to treatment arm with hemocyte autograft, and subject who received treatment arm are eligible for surgery if not improved.