FEATURED TECHNOLOGY
The Regenerative Clinic
✐ Surgeon: Tendinopathy: causes and treatments explained
✐ Surgeon: The Regenerative Clinic: Platelet Rich Plasma injections for Tennis elbow (elbow tendinopathy)
✐ Surgeons: Dr. Mikel Sánchez speaks to The Regenerative Clinic about using PRP in Sports Medicine
Platelet Rich Plasma is a blood preparation where a portion of plasma rich in platelets is extracted from the rest of the blood.
 |
Centrifuged blood sample separating out the platelet-rich layer. |
Efficacy of platelet rich plasma
Platelets are small blood fragments without a nucleus, derived from a larger specialist cell in the blood. They can recognise a damaged vessel at which situation they congregate, transform in shape and combine together to seal the vessel. They then trigger the chemical cascade that creates a true blood clot. Finally they produce substances that signal other cells to assist in wound healing.
To prepare platelet-rich plasma, blood is taken from a vein in the common way and then spun in a centrifuge to concentrate the blood components into layers - the platelet layer is then withdrawn within a small volume of plasma. It is then injected or made into a preparation in combination with other orthobiologic materials and placed into the area being treated.
Unfortunately the literature is controversial as to the efficacy as it appears to depend upon the precise method that the platelet rich plasma is prepared and used.
CLINICAL PUBLICATIONS
Biology of platelet-rich plasma and its clinical application in cartilage repair. Xie X, Zhang C and Tuan RS. Arthritis Res Ther. 2014; 16(1): 204.
New and Emerging Strategies in Platelet-Rich Plasma Application in Musculoskeletal Regenerative Procedures: General Overview on Still Open Questions and Outlook. Salamanna F, Francesca Veronesi F, Maglio M, Della Bella E, Sartori M and Fini M. Biomed Res Int. 2015; 2015: 846045.
Mechanism Action of Platelets and Crucial Blood Coagulation Pathways in Hemostasis. Periayah MH, Halim AS, and Saad AZM. Int J Hematol Oncol Stem Cell Res. 2017 Oct 1; 11(4): 319–327.
See also -
and...
eBook - The Magic of Fat Cells
A discussion by Professor Paul Lee about the changes one sees in osteoarthritis of the knee, and the role of regenerative medicine and surgery in improving the status of the joint cartilage in an effort to delay, or even prevent, knee replacement.