Platelet rich plasma injection for treatment of osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive degenerative disease characterised by loss or damage of the cartilage surface of joints, resulting in pain and disability. Unitl recently, management of mild to moderate OA has been limited to symptomatic relief with analgesia or anti-inflammatory medications, viscosupplementation and exercise therapy, and in extreme cases joint replacement surgery. An emerging treatment for soft tissue healing and bone mineralisation is platelet rich plasma (PRP) injection. In addition to clotting functions, activated platelets have been found to contain growth factors, cytokines and protiens responsible for promotion of tissue regeneration and healing. Injection of PRP solution to joints during surgical procedures have demonstrated positive effects on healing, pain and function post-operatively. However, to our knowledge, there are limited ramdomised controlled studies evaluating the effect of a less invasive technique of intra-articular injection of PRP. Therefore, this double blinded study aims to assess the changes in pain, activity levels and lower extremity functional ability of patients with mild to moderate OA following intra-articular PRP injection compared to usual treatment of Hylan G-F 20 (SYNVISC).