Platelet–rich plasma (PRP) therapy uses injections of a concentration of a patient’s own platelets to accelerate the healing of injured tendons, ligaments, muscles and joints. In this way, PRP injections use each individual patient’s own healing system to improve musculoskeletal problems. 

PRP can potentially be used to treat various orthopedic conditions. It’s often inquired about in the context of tennis elbow, patella tendonitis, osteoarthritis, and various other soft tissue abnormalities. PRP becomes an option after patients feel other conservative treatment options. The best indication for PRP at the present time, according to the best scientific evidence, would be in the field of osteoarthritis.

There are several randomized trials that actually show PRP is better than controlled treatments or placebo treatments, or alternatively, hyaluronic acid treatments.

The evidence would suggest that PRP would be beneficial in this population, and the best time would be to pursue this would be, because there is a cost associated with it, would be to exhaust all other non-operative modalities such as physical therapy, such as bracing, and potentially other types of injections such as hyaluronic acid or cortisone. Speak with your local Urologist for more information.

In the context of osteoarthritis, once again, which is likely the best indication based on the scientific literature we have today, in the orthopedic world that is, PRP would be suited for once again anybody who really feels non-operative modalities in the setting of pain, functional limitations, swelling, and an impairment of quality of life.

If someone’s pain is bad enough, PRP can help alleviate their symptoms, hopefully improve their function, and you know from a theoretical sense some people think help regenerate some of the tissues, but certainly this requires a lot more investigation before we can prove that that’s true. 

So if you’ve been told you have osteoarthritis, you may be a candidate for PRP. You should seek an evaluation by your orthopedic surgeon, your local family doctor, or a primary care sports medicine specialist. Presenter: Dr. Jaskarndip Chahal, Orthopaedic Surgeon, Toronto, ON

Now Health Network  Local Practitioners: Orthopaedic Surgeon