Platelets Rich Plasma (PRP) for Joints

Platelet Rich Plasma treatment for osteoarthritis

A Life Uncoded procedure that can be very effective is Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) treatment.

Platelet Rich Plasma accelerates and shortens the recovery process in chronic injuries and new acute injuries. It is used in surgeries to promote cell regeneration for a number of conditions including tendinosis.

Platelet-rich plasma is autologous (it comes from the patient’s body), and the injections carry few risks. There is still a lot to learn about which arthritis patients are eligible for PRP injections but current research suggests that PRP injections are appropriate for younger patients in the early stages of osteoarthritis.

In general, doctors do not recommend Platelet-rich plasma injections for the most severe cases of osteoarthritis.

Where responses such as rest and physical therapy have been tried and joint replacements or other surgeries are becoming an option, PRP may provide an effective alternative intervention.

What is the procedure for PRP

We use EmCyte Corporation system for the PRP. EmCyte operates under, ISO 13485:2012, ISO 9001:2008 and Part 820 CFR Title 21 for medical device manufacturing.

Following strict Certification guidelines, the PRP procedure involves extracting platelets from the patient’ blood and injecting them within an enriched plasma solution back into the affected joint.

This involves centrifuging the patient’s blood (spinning at very high speeds) to cause the blood to separate into layers:

1. Red blood cell layer, involving approximately 45% of blood, which is forced to the bottom of the vial.
2. White blood cells and platelets layer, which form a thin middle layer, (a buffy coat), made up of less than 1% of the centrifuged blood.
3. Platelet-poor plasma layer, which is a low concentration of platelets at the top, formed from around 55% of the centrifuged blood.

Doctors use this centrifuge blood to prepare the PRP solution for injection, which includes enriching the solution with thrombin and calcium chloride to active the platelets and stimulate clotting.

Because the platelets release a variety of healing proteins known as growth factors, they can accelerate the healing process of damaged tissue and are very effective in treating many musculoskeletal conditions of the elbow, knee, hip and Achilles.

When seeking advice about the appropriateness of PRP for your condition, you should seek to understand how your doctor diagnoses and assess the problem. This should include verification through imaging the affected Your doctor should also assess if the severity of your condition is appropriate for PRP therapy.