Abstract
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is one of the many new therapeutic approaches that continues to evolve in the field of general musculoskeletal medicine, sports medicine, and orthopedic medicine. There has been increasing amount of interest particularly in knee osteoarthritis as it is the most common degenerative disease encountered in clinical practice. PRP injections have been found in the majority of recent clinical studies to be helpful for pain and function. The purpose of this article was to provide the readers with the historical perspective of PRP and the most current literature on the use of PRP for the treatment of knee OA.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance
Bashir J, Panero AJ, Sherman AL. The emerging use of platelet-rich plasma in musculoskeletal medicine. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2015;115(1):24.
Hacket GS. Ligament and tendon relaxation (skeletal disability): treated by prolotherapy (fibro-osseous proliferation) with special reference to occipito-cervical and low back disability–trigger point pain, headache and sciatica. Springfield: Thomas; 1958.
Sampson S, Gerhardt M, Mandelbaum B. Platelet rich plasma injection grafts for musculoskeletal injuries: a review. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2008;1(3):165.
Gobbi A, et al. Platelet-rich plasma treatment in symptomatic patients with knee osteoarthritis: preliminary results in a group of active patients. Sports Health. 2012;4(2):162–72.
Marx RE. Platelet-rich plasma: evidence to support its use. J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2004;62(4):489.
Kwon DR, Park GY, Lee SU. The effects of intra-articular platelet-rich plasma injection according to the severity of collagenase-induced knee osteoarthritis in a rabbit model. Ann Rehabil Med. 2012;36(4):458–65.
Sundman EA, et al. The anti-inflammatory and matrix restorative mechanisms of platelet-rich plasma in osteoarthritis. Am J Sports Med. 2014;42(1):35–41.
Meheux CJ, et al. Efficacy of intra-articular platelet-rich plasma injections in knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review. Arthroscopy. 2015.
Zhu Y, et al. Basic science and clinical application of platelet-rich plasma for cartilage defects and osteoarthritis: a review. Osteoarthr Cartil. 2013;21(11):1627.
Hunziker EB, et al. An educational review of cartilage repair: precepts & practice—myths & misconceptions—progress & prospects. Osteoarthr Cartil. 2015;23(3):334.
Lai LP, et al. Use of platelet-rich plasma in intra-articular knee injections for osteoarthritis: a systematic review. PMR. 2015;7(6):637–48.
Xie X, et al. Platelet-rich plasma inhibits mechanically induced injury in chondrocytes. Arthroscopy. 2015;31(6):1142–50.
Kanchanatawan W, et al. Short-term outcomes of platelet-rich plasma injection for treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2015.
Sanchez M, et al. A randomized clinical trial evaluating plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF-Endoret) versus hyaluronic acid in the short-term treatment of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Arthroscopy. 2012;28(8):1070–8.
Dhillon M, et al. Orthobiologics and platelet rich plasma. Indian J Orthop. 2014;48(1):1.
Khoshbin A, et al. The efficacy of platelet-rich plasma in the treatment of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review with quantitative synthesis. Arthroscopy. 2013;29(12):2037–48.
Mascarenhas R, et al. Role of platelet-rich plasma in articular cartilage injury and disease. J Knee Surg. 2015;28(1):3–10.
Riboh JC, et al. Effect of leukocyte concentration on the efficacy of platelet-rich plasma in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Am J Sports Med. 2015.
Anitua E, et al. Efficacy and safety of plasma rich in growth factors intra-articular infiltrations in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Arthroscopy. 2014;30(8):1006–17.
Almasry SM, et al. Platelet rich plasma enhances the immunohistochemical expression of platelet derived growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor in the synovium of the meniscectomized rat models of osteoarthritis. Ann Anat. 2015;197:38–49.
Kon E, et al. Platelet-rich plasma: intra-articular knee injections produced favorable results on degenerative cartilage lesions. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2010;18(4):472–9.
Sampson S, et al. Injection of platelet-rich plasma in patients with primary and secondary knee osteoarthritis: a pilot study. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2010;89(12):961–9.
Kon E, et al. Platelet-rich plasma intra-articular injection versus hyaluronic acid viscosupplementation as treatments for cartilage pathology: from early degeneration to osteoarthritis. Arthroscopy. 2011;27(11):1490–501.
Filardo G, et al. Platelet-rich plasma intra-articular knee injections for the treatment of degenerative cartilage lesions and osteoarthritis. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2011;19(4):528.
Spaková T, et al. Treatment of knee joint osteoarthritis with autologous platelet-rich plasma in comparison with hyaluronic acid. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2012;91(5):411–7.
Filardo G, et al. Platelet-rich plasma vs hyaluronic acid to treat knee degenerative pathology: study design and preliminary results of a randomized controlled trial. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2012;13:229.
• Halpern B, et al. Clinical and MRI outcomes after platelet-rich plasma treatment for knee osteoarthritis. Clin J Sport Med. 2013;23(3):238–9. Reported no structural changes in knee compartments in at least 73 % of cases at 1 year under qualitative MRIs with the use of PRP.
Jang SJ, Kim JD, Cha SS. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections as an effective treatment for early osteoarthritis. Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol. 2013;23(5):573–80.
Patel S, et al. Treatment with platelet-rich plasma is more effective than placebo for knee osteoarthritis: a prospective, double-blind, randomized trial. Am J Sports Med. 2013;41(2):356–64.
Gobbi A, Lad D, Karnatzikos G. The effects of repeated intra-articular PRP injections on clinical outcomes of early osteoarthritis of the knee. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2015;23(8):2170–7.
Görmeli G, et al. Multiple PRP injections are more effective than single injections and hyaluronic acid in knees with early osteoarthritis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2015.
Raeissadat SA, et al. Knee osteoarthritis injection choices: platelet- rich plasma (PRP) versus hyaluronic acid (a one-year randomized clinical trial). Clin Med Insights Arthritis Musculoskelet Disord. 2015;8:1–8.
•• Filardo G, et al. Platelet-rich plasma intra-articular knee injections show no superiority versus viscosupplementation: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Sports Med. 2015;43(7):1575–82. The results of this double-blind, randomized controlled tri al on the largest available cohort of patients evaluated at the longest follow-up did not support findings in the literature that suggested that PRP was superior to HA.
Filardo G, et al. Leukocyte-poor PRP application for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Joints. 2013;1(3):112–20.
Braun HJ, et al. The effect of platelet-rich plasma formulations and blood products on human synoviocytes. Am J Sports Med. 2014;42(5):1204.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent
This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Sports Medicine Rehabilitation.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Georgy, J.S., Lai, L.P., Stitik, T.P. et al. Role of PRP in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis. Curr Phys Med Rehabil Rep 4, 138–144 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40141-016-0119-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40141-016-0119-4