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PRP may be superior to hyaluronic acid for improvement of pain, function in patients with OA
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LOS ANGELES — Use of intra-articular platelet-rich plasma significantly improved pain and function in patients with osteoarthritis at 6 months and may be a superior alternative to hyaluronic acid, according to study findings presented at the Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting.
“Our study suggests that lower-leukocyte [platelet-rich plasma] is … effective in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis, with superior and meaningful clinical differences in favor of [platelet-rich plasma] over [hyaluronic acid] at 6 months and 12 months,” Annemarie Tilton, BBA, said during her presentation.
Annemarie Tilton
Tilton and colleagues randomly assigned 99 patients with a minimum of 3 months of symptomatic unilateral knee osteoarthritis (OA) and Kellgren Lawrence grade 1-3 OA to receive 3 weekly injections of either platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or hyaluronic acid (HA). Patients completed Lysholm, IKDC, WOMAC and VAS pain surveys and underwent clinical examination at 6 weeks, 12 weeks and 24 weeks after index treatment. During each treatment visit and at 3-month and 6-month follow-up, patients also underwent ultrasound-guided knee aspiration for synovial fluid analysis.
According to Tilton, patients who had a low BMI, as well as patients with Kellgren Lawrence grade 1 OA, tended to be responders to treatment. Additionally, PRP fold was not found to be a factor in response to treatment.
“Results also showed that the PRP groups had clinically significantly greater scores in IKDC at 6 months and at 1 year, with a minimally clinically important difference of greater than 10,” Tilton said.
Patients in the PRP group also had lower pain scores at 6 months and 1 year vs. the HA group, according to study results. At 3 months post-treatment, biologic outcomes showed the PRP group trended toward lower values of interleukin-1 beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. – by Casey Tingle
Reference:
Cole B, et al. Paper #SS-57. Presented at: Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting. April 23-25, 2015; Los Angeles.
Disclosure: Tilton reports no relevant financial disclosures.