What is PRP ?
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is a compound created from your own blood plasma that has been enriched with concentrated platelets. These “platelets” are little packages of various growth factors made by your body that help heal and repair damaged tissue.
Human blood components PRP
The growth factors and other healing factors present in PRP include: platelet- derived growth factor, transforming growth factor beta, fibroblast growth factor, insulin-like growth factor 1& II, vascular endothelial growth factor, epidermal growth factor, Interleukin 8, keratinocyte growth factor, connective tissue growth factor .
Who Should Consider PRP?
PRP is not for everyone with knee OA and studies have had mixed results. Some well-conducted studies have shown no benefit to PRP in patients with knee OA. The recent ESSKA- ICRS consensus statement states that PRP injections are considered appropriate in patients aged ≤80 years moderate knee OA who have failed conservative non-injective or injective treatments, while they are not considered appropriate severe knee OA . In addition, PRP is expensive compared to less expensive options such as NSAID medications.
Patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis who have significant ongoing pain despite weight loss, physiotherapy and appropriate analgesia may consider PRP.
PRP it is not a miracle cure. Not all patients respond, and the effect fades with time. It is best considered if other first-line options such as weight loss, exercise and NSAID have not produced adequate results.
Platelets are shown in the above image as white.
“The PRP is platelet-rich plasma and contains over 90% of the platelets available for collection from the whole blood sample. Only the white cell depleted PRP is used.”
“The White Cell Rich PRP is discarded, leaving the White Cell Depleted PRP for injection. White cells are best removed from the PRP as they can cause pain & inflammation with injection.”