What you need to know about PRP
Original article: Medical News Today Medically reviewed by Suzanne Falck, MD, FACP on November 21, 2017 — Written by Rachel Nall, RN, BSN, CCRN
Platelet-rich plasma therapy has made headlines, often because it is favored by elite athletes to help them recover from injury.
Some doctors are now using platelet-rich plasma therapy or PRP injections for several reasons, from encouraging hair growth to promoting soft tissue-healing.
However, research studies have not definitively proved that PRP works for the conditions it is reported to benefit. In this article, we have a look at the case for PRP, and the costs involved.
Fast facts about platelet-rich plasma therapy:
- Doctors use PRP to encourage healing and to reduce inflammation.
- A doctor doing a PRP injection will first draw blood from the person being treated.
- The costs for PRP injections can range from $500 to $2,000, according to Scientific American.
- Side effects can include mild nausea, passing out and dizziness
How does it work?
Platelets are blood cells with several roles to play in the body.
One is to promote blood clotting so that a person does not excessively bleed when they are cut.
Another is to contain proteins in the blood that help wounds to heal.
Researchers theorize that by injecting areas of inflammation or tissue damage with high concentrations of platelets, it can encourage wounds to heal.
A small blood sample is taken from the person being treated and put into a centrifuge or other specialized device that spins at high speed. This process separates platelets from other blood components. The concentration of platelets is then injected into the area of the person’s body that needs to be treated.
Because the injection contains a high concentration of platelets, which can be from 5 to 10 times more than the untreated blood, doctors theorize that the platelets will speed up healing.
What are the benefits?
Some examples of treatment areas where PRP has been used include:
Hair growth
Doctors have injected PRP into the scalp, as a way of reducing the inflammation that can lead to hair loss.
Tissue healing
Doctors first used PRP to help people heal after jaw and plastic surgeries. Examples of tissues that PRP has been used on include:
- tendons
- ligaments
- muscles
Ligaments can take time and be difficult to heal, which can make PRP an attractive option for some of those who have experienced injuries to this tissue group.
Inflammation reduction
Doctors have used PRP to reduce inflammation caused by osteoarthritis. This inflammation can lead to joints becoming painful and stiff.
Other uses
Research studies about PRP include:
- One published in 2015 in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine, which found that men receiving PRP treatment grew more hair and with significantly more density than men who did not. However, the treatment was on 20 individuals only, so it was a small-scale study.
- Another published in 2013 in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found that PRP injections helped to reduce knee osteoarthritis pain compared to saline injections. Again, the study had a small sample of 78 participants.
- A paper published in 2014, again in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, found that 3 rounds of PRP injections reduced symptoms in those with the knee injury chronic patellar tendinopathy. The researchers used 28 athletes in the study.
Doctors are also trying to use PRP to heal broken bones, but no research has yet proven its effectiveness in this area.
How much does PRP cost?
Costs for PRP treatment are reported to be between $500 and $2,000.
It is not typically covered by insurance because of the lack of evidence, so far, to conclusively prove that it works.
Also, costs can vary depending on location, facilities, and the expertise of the doctor performing the treatment. Often, a person will have multiple injections given 2 to 3 months apart.
Some of the world’s most elite athletes have used PRP for wound healing. They include golf’s Tiger Woods, baseball’s Takashi Saito, and football’s Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu.
As injecting PRP involves using a person’s own platelets, they do not usually experience any adverse reactions to the injections. However, it is possible that a person may have irritation, pain, or bleeding related to the injection site.
Most people can resume their normal activities almost immediately after having a PRP injection. The average time from blood-drawing to the injection itself is about half-an-hour.
Takeaway
While PRP is a promising therapy for those who experience tissue damage or hair loss, large-scale research studies are needed to establish the effectiveness of treatments.
With larger studies than those to date, doctors could identify a dose or injection routine that works best for treating injuries or other conditions. Also, further studies could help doctors determine what symptoms to exclude from PRP injections.
Until that time, PRP injections are likely to remain a controversial therapy not covered by medical insurance, the costs of which, people are required to pay for themselves.
References
- Anitua, E., Pino, A., Martinez, N., Orive, G., & Berridi, D. (2017, May). The effect of plasma rich in growth factors on pattern hair loss: A pilot study [Abstract]. Dermatologic Surgery, 43(5), 658-670
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28221183 - Braun, H. J., Kim, H. J., Chu, C. R., & Dragoo, J. L., (2014, March 14). The effect of platelet-rich plasma formulations and blood products on human synoviocytes [Abstract]. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 42(5), 1204–1210
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24634448 - Charousset, C., Zaoui, A., Bellaiche, L., & Bouyer, B. (2014, April 1). Are multiple platelet-rich plasma injections useful for treatment of chronic patellar tendinopathy in athletes? A prospective study. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 42(4), 906–911
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0363546513519964 - Filardo, G., Di Matteo, B., Di Martino, A., Merli, M. L., Cenacchi, A., Fornasari, P., … Kon, E. (2015, May 7). Platelet-rich plasma intra-articular knee injections show no superiority versus viscosupplementation. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 43(7), 1575–1582
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0363546515582027 - Kang, J. S., Zheng, Z., Choi, M. J., Lee, S. H., Kim, D. Y., & Cho, S. B. (2014, January). The effect of CD34+ cell-containing autologous platelet-rich plasma injection on pattern hair loss: A preliminary study. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 28(1), 72–79
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23279091 - Patel, S., Dhillon, M. S., Aggarwal, S., Marwaha, N., & Jain, A. (2013, February). Treatment with platelet-rich plasma is more effective than placebo for knee osteoarthritis: A prospective double-blind, randomized trial [Abstract]. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 41(2), 356–364
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23299850 - Gentile, P., Garcovich, S., Bielle, A., Scioli, M. G., Orlandi, A., & Cervelli, V. (2015, November). The effect of platelet-rich plasma in hair regrowth: A randomized placebo-controlled trial. Stem Cells Translational Medicine, 4(11), 1317–1323
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4622412/ - Platelet-rich plasma (PRP). (2011, September)
orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00648 - Storrs, C. (2009, December 18). Is platelet-rich plasma an effective healing therapy? Scientific American
scientificamerican.com/article/platelet-rich-plasma-therapy-dennis-cardone-sports-medicine-injury/