Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Treatment: An Overview
Soft tissues and bones that are injured heel in many stages. Recent researches show that the early healing stages: inflammation and an increase in cells, or cell proliferation are the best way to treat injured part in orthopaedic surgery and sports medicine.
These days PRP is becoming more and more popular to boost the healing process biologically.
What is PRP?
PRP is created from a person’s own blood. It is a concentration of one type of cell- better say platelet which goes through the blood, and it helps to clot the blood. Cell recruitment, multiplication, and specialization are the key factors for healing, and platelets and the liquid plasma portion of blood contain all of them.
They take a blood sample and put it in a centrifuge in order to separate the blood into its components. They collect and treat platelet-Rich Plasma, and then they deliver it to an injured area of soft tissues and bones like tendons or ligaments.
Furthermore, they give PRP to patients through injection. Also, they can use ultrasound to place the PRP in the proper place. After the injection, the patient must not exercise for a short period of time.
Is PRP treatment effective?
The early basic scientific studies in clinical models show that PRP treatment can help to heal the bone and soft tissues that are injured. As an illustration, in the case of Achilles tendon injuries and also calf muscle injuries the increased numbers of cells and improved tendon strength have been noted.
The early finding in animal models caused to use of PRP treatment for many situations such as chronic tendon problems and injuries to ligaments and muscles. A recent study showed that PRP treatment was much more effective than hyaluronic acid treatment in the case of knee osteoarthritis.
Overall, PRP treatment receives a small amount of support from published clinical studies. However, due to the fact that PRP is created from a person’s own blood, it is considered a low-risk treatment, and it has the potential to improve or boost healing.
Concerns about PRP treatment
Some agencies such as the World Anti-Doping Agency and the United States Anti-Doping Agency forbid the injection of PRP in muscles because there is the possibility that the growth factors could enhance a person’s performance, due to the fact that these agencies believe it is a performance-enhancing substance.
Yet more researches need to be conducted to prove the fact that PRP is a performance-enhancing substance because there are no definite data about it.