Article

OBJECTIVE: To systematically analyze the literature on the use of platelet-rich
plasma (PRP) for intra-articular injections of the knee and its efficacy in the
treatment of knee osteoarthritis (OA). DESIGN: Systematic literature reviews were
conducted in PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL (ie, Cumulative Index to Nursing and
Allied Health Literature) on October 30, 2013, using the keywords "platelet-rich
plasma" and "knee" and "osteoarthritis." Inclusion criteria included (1) studies
with human subjects, (2) prospective clinical studies (including either clinical
trials or observational studies), and (3) full-text articles published in
English. Exclusion criteria were: (1) animal studies; (2) retrospective studies;
(3) patients with previous surgical intervention with total knee arthroplasty or
reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligaments; and (4) articles not published
in English RESULTS: A total of 319 abstracts and titles were reviewed (60 from
PubMed, 250 from Embase, and 9 from CINAHL). A total of 8 relevant journal
articles were identified, all of which were published between 2010 and 2013.
One-half of the studies were prospective observational studies that included only
PRP treatment; the rest were prospective comparative studies including both PRP
and controls-2 were randomized controlled trials. Of the 4 comparative studies, 3
compared PRP with hyaluronic acid, which was considered as a commonly used
effective treatment for knee OA; the other one used saline injection (ie,
placebo) as the control. Although most of the analyses suffered from small sample
size and was thus inconclusive, the findings consistently indicated that PRP
might have better outcomes in patients with a lesser degree of degeneration and
in younger patients. CONCLUSION: PRP intra-articular injections of the knee may
be an effective alternative treatment for knee OA. However, current studies are
at best inconclusive regarding the efficacy of the PRP treatment. A large,
multicenter randomized trial study is needed to further assess the efficacy of
PRP treatment for patients with knee OA.
CI - Copyright (c) 2015 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS