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Commercial Separation Systems Designed for Preparation of Platelet-Rich Plasma Yield Differences in Cellular Composition

  • Original Article
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HSS Journal ®

Abstract

Background

The role of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in the treatment of sport-related injuries is unclear, largely due to the heterogeneity of clinical results. This may relate to compositional differences in PRP from different separation systems.

Questions/Purposes

This study aims to compare the composition of PRP produced with five different commercially available systems, focusing on cellular concentrations and pH.

Methods

Seven donors (41 ± 12 years) provided blood for PRP preparation using five systems (Arthrex Angel, Emcyte Genesis CS, Arteriocyte Magellan, Harvest SmartPrep, and Biomet GPS III). Post processing, cellular composition was measured including platelets (PLT), white blood cells (WBC), neutrophils (NE), and red blood cells (RBC), as well as pH.

Results

Platelet concentration and capture efficiency were similar between systems, except the Angel 7% preparation had a greater concentration than Genesis CS (2310 ± 524 vs. 1129 ± 264 k/μL). WBC concentration was variable between systems; however, significant differences were only found between the Angel 2% and GPS III preparations (11.0 ± 4.5, 27.3 ± 7.1 k/μL). NE concentration was significantly lower in the Angel 2% and 7% preparations compared with GPS III (0.6 ± 0.6 and 1.8 ± 1.3 k/μL vs. 9.4 ± 7.0 k/μL). RBC concentration was highest in SmartPrep (3.2 ± 0.6 M/μL) and Genesis CS systems (3.1 ± 0.6 M/μL) compared with all other systems (≤1.1 ± 1.2 M/μL). Finally, pH was significantly lower with the SmartPrep system (6.95 ± 0.06) compared with all others (≥7.26 ± 0.06).

Conclusion

Aside from platelet concentration and capture efficiency, significant compositional differences were identified between preparation systems. Caution should be employed when interpreting clinical results of studies utilizing PRP, as the role of compositional differences and their effect on outcome are unknown. Further study is necessary to determine the clinical significance of these differences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th Street, New York, NY, USA

    Ryan M. Degen MD, Johnathan A. Bernard MD & Joshua S. Dines MD

  2. Blue Tail Medical Group, St Louis, MO, USA

    Kristin S. Oliver MD

Authors
  1. Ryan M. Degen MD
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  2. Johnathan A. Bernard MD
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  3. Kristin S. Oliver MD
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  4. Joshua S. Dines MD
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Correspondence to Ryan M. Degen MD.

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Conflict of Interest

Ryan M. Degen, MD, Johnathan A. Bernard, MD, and Kristin S. Oliver, MD have declared that they have no conflict of interest. Joshua S. Dines, MD reports personal fees from Arthrex, Conmed Linvatec and Ossur, outside the work.

Human/Animal Rights

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 (5).

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Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Study: Level IV

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Degen, R.M., Bernard, J.A., Oliver, K.S. et al. Commercial Separation Systems Designed for Preparation of Platelet-Rich Plasma Yield Differences in Cellular Composition. HSS Jrnl 13, 75–80 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11420-016-9519-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11420-016-9519-3

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