Review article
Platelet rich plasma – a revolution or just another treatment
Goran Vrgoč
orcid.org/0000-0002-4541-4659
; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University Hospital “Sveti Duh”, Zagreb, Croatia
Petra Jurina
; Clinic for Traumatology, Department of University Clinical Hospital Center “Sestre Milosrdnice”, Zagreb, Croatia
Saša Janković
; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University Hospital “Sveti Duh”, Zagreb, Croatia
Bojan Bukva
; Department of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery, University Children’s Hospital, Belgrade, Serbia
Abstract
Musculoskeletal injuries are the most frequent reason for athletes being away from sports competitions. Modern sport strives to return athletes to full competition rhythm after injury as soon as possible. Accordingly, new therapeutic discoveries have been found whose function is to accelerate the healing process with as high tissue quality as possible. The current musculoskeletal system injury management methods include protection, rest, ice, compression, elevation, NSAID, physiotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, prolotherapy injections and corticosteroid injections. The last resort is surgery. Nevertheless, conservative treatment is preferred because surgical treatment requires longer recovery and there is a possibility of developing complications. The new and still insufficiently investigated non-operative treatment is platelet rich plasma (PRP). PRP is a simple product that is derived from the patient’s venous anticoagulated blood and it possesses a concentration of platelets which is 4 to 6 time bigger. The growth factors released from granules of the platelets include the transforming growth factor (TGF-β), platelet-derived growth factors (PDGF-AB and PDGFBB), the insulin-like growth factor (IGF), vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGHs), epidermal growth factors (EGFs) and the fibroblast growth factor (FGF). PRP is used for the treatment of acute muscle injuries, tendon injuries, ligament injuries and chondral lesions. Although PRP is suggested as a safe and harmless product, its efficiency is still a matter of discussion, since there are not enough studies that could be evaluated and mutually compared; however, generally speaking, it is accepted that the PRP can accelerate the healing response and stimulate athletes’ recovery from some well indicated injuries.
Keywords
athletes; chondral lesions; growth factors; muscle injuries; platelet rich plasma; tendon injuries
Hrčak ID:
135690
URI
Publication date:
2.3.2015.
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