, compared a series of three-weekly injections of platelet-rich plasma to three-weekly injections of saline, which acted as a placebo for the study.
Participants were not aware of whether there was platelet-rich plasma or saline in the syringe during the injections. Participants were tracked for pain levels and cartilage health over 12 months.
Participants who received platelet-rich plasma injections had a significant improvement in their knee pain over one year, the level of improvement was matched by those in the placebo group. There were no differences identified in the MRI scans in both groups.
“We conducted the study because there is currently limited high-quality evidence about whether or not platelet-rich plasma injections have benefits for people with painful knee osteoarthritis.
Our results do not support the use of platelet-rich plasma for people with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis,” University of Melbourne lead researcher Professor Kim Bennell said.
Professor Bennell advises people with knee osteoarthritis to exercise and maintain a healthy weight range to help manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life..
Contributing author Professor David Hunter, from the University of Sydney, said Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common and disabling disease.
“Pain in OA is a substantial unmet need, so identifying new therapies capable of improving the symptoms and structure are urgently needed.
Unfortunately, the particular treatment trialled in this study, PRP, whilst widely used and typically expensive, appears to be ineffective compared to an inert comparator.”
Two hundred and eighty-eight people with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis participated in the RESTORE study, conducted in Melbourne and Sydney, with funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Source: Medindia
