PRP

Does Platelet-Rich Plasma Injection Work?

An interesting treatment idea for arthritis, tendinopathy, muscle strain and more. Blood therapy, anyone? Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections bathe troubled cells in a concentrated mixture made from your own blood. Hopefully this stimulates healing where it is otherwise failing — especially stubborn, slow-motion injuries like tendinitis— but no one really knows for sure yet.

Orthobiologics and platelet rich plasma

Orthobiologics have evolved to the extent that they significantly influence modern orthopedic surgical practice. A better understanding of the role of various growth factors and cells in the process of tendon healing, ligament repair, cartilage regeneration and bone formation has stimulated focused research in many chronic musculoskeletal ailments. Investigators have published results of laboratory as well as clinical studies, using orthobiologics like platelet rich plasma, stem cells, autologous conditioned serum etc., with variable results. However, a clear consensus over the best orthobiologic substance and the method of preparation and usage of these substances is lacking.

Orthobiologics: What do Athletes Need to Know about PRP?

While the efficacy of biological treatments is still under investigation, it’s important for athletes to understand how the use of orthobiologics is handled under the World Anti-Doping Code. Keep reading to explore the complicated field of regenerative medicine and learn more about PRP, which is just one of many biological therapies.

An evidence-based evaluation on the use of platelet rich plasma in orthopedics – a review of the literature

Within orthopedics, the use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been rapidly increasing in popularity, however, its true effectiveness has yet to be fully established.

Caution urged in using PRP or stem cells to treat young athletes' injuries

"While regenerative medicine appears to have promise in many areas of medicine, little is known about the safety or effectiveness of these treatments for bone, cartilage, ligament or muscle tissue injuries in children and adolescents," said Thomas Best, M.D., Ph.D., professor of orthopedics, family medicine, biomedical engineering and kinesiology, and team physician for University of Miami athletics and the Miami Marlins.

Evaluation of the Effects of Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy Involved in the Healing of Sports-Related Soft Tissue Injuries

Musculoskeletal injuries are the most common cause of severe long-term pain and physical disability, and affect hundreds of millions of people around the world. One of the most popular methods used to biologically enhance healing in the fields of orthopaedic surgery and sports medicine includes the use of autologous blood products, namely, platelet rich plasma (PRP).

Hard Science Behind PRP Craze?

“Although platelets are the body’s natural healing machine, in that they are attracted to injured tissue sites where they release their rich content of abundant growth factors and cytokines, the resultant biological activities are complex, consisting of both anabolic and catabolic activities.”

Is Platelet-Rich Plasma an Effective Healing Therapy?

Athletes such as Tiger Woods and the Pittsburgh Steelers's Hines Ward have undergone platelet-rich plasma therapy, but is there evidence that the treatment really speeds the healing of injuries?

Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy for Low Back Pain

“Biologic therapies like intradiscal PRP represent the beginning of a paradigm shift in orthopedics. Using a patient’s own cells, we are able to help patients not only avoid more aggressive spinal fusion surgery, but also eliminate the need for long-term medications.” Dr. Lutz and his research team will be initiating research trials in the near future for knee osteoarthritis and other degenerative conditions using the patient’s own stem cells.

Platelet-Rich Plasma For Tennis Elbow: Does It Work?

Is PRP an effective, new Tennis Elbow treatment - Or an overpriced fad, driven by star-athlete publicity and marginal science?

Statement from IOF President on the New York Times Article “An Unproven Cure”

The authors also failed to document the significant lack of evidence for up to 80% of current orthopedic procedures. While these procedures continue to be performed and paid for by insurance carriers, there are several procedures that have now been shown to be without appropriate evidence versus other treatments including placebo treatment i.e. arthroscopic partial meniscectomy for meniscal tears.

Stem Cell Treatments Flourish With Little Evidence That They Work

The F.D.A. has taken an industry-friendly approach toward companies using unproven cell cocktails to treat people desperate for relief from aging or damaged joints.

Does Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy Really Work?

In general, the mechanisms by which P.R.P. succeeds or fails remain unexplained. “We believe more work on the basic science needs to be undertaken,” a consensus statement about P.R.P. issued late last year by the International Olympic Committee said, adding that people should “proceed with caution in the use of P.R.P. in athletic sporting injuries.”

Does PRP Therapy Actually Work?

Proponents claim your own blood can be a healing elixir — think: the vampire facial — but the science is missing.

Healing The Healthy Way: Understanding What Your Stem Cells and Platelets Already Know About You

Aging gracefully comes in many different forms but for those of us who understand our path to healing, whether you are trying to reverse the aging process, or to heal an injury, what you know is that the healthiest ways to improve our health are already in our bodies, living in our stem cells and platelets.

Popular Blood Therapy May Not Work

It is a new procedure, based on an idea that once seemed revolutionary: Inject people with their own blood, concentrated so it is mostly platelets, the tiny colorless bodies that release substances that help repair tissues. Soon the treatment, platelet-rich plasma, or P.R.P., was extended to so many uses treating muscle sprains and tendon pulls and tears, arthritis, bone fractures and surgical wounds that Dr. Bruce Reider, editor of The American Journal of Sports Medicine, said in a recent editorial that perhaps it should be called “platelet-rich panacea.”

Spinning Blood Isn't Just for Athletes

PRP, which has been used in dentistry since the 1970s, has caught on only recently for treatment of orthopedic injuries—and on patients outside professional sports, too. It's sometimes used in conjunction with surgery, but most often by itself, and can sometimes eliminate the need for surgery. While it sounds like science fiction, it is legal for professional athletes to use—since it isn't injecting foreign or banned substance into the body.

Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Injections: Lots of hype, no convincing evidence

Platelet-rich plasma injections are advertised as an expensive cure-all for sport injuries. The evidence, however, is consistently negative.

OrthoInfo

Even though PRP has received extensive publicity, there are still lingering questions about it...

PRP Seminars

PRP Seminars is dedicated to educating dentists and when it comes to PRP’s uses and its derivatives, setting the record straight. Largely overlooked is that Dr. Arun K. Garg, a bone biology expert, is also the co-discoverer of PRP along with Dr. Robert M. Marx and has the most experience in the field having overseen hundreds of cases.