Any PRP injection horror stories / warnings ??

[JohnnyG123]

Howdy all!

I would really appreciate advice. My situation in short is I suffer from lateral tibial cartilage fissures grade 1-2 damage, on BOTH bloody knees!

I have had an Arthroscopy on both knees done, after 2 MRI scans could not detect any damage or issues and we had to further investigate. I was promised by my GP that he would just have a look at the damage, not touch anything unless absolutely necessary and essentially that my knees would be the same coming out as going in. He then found the above described damage, took action and shaved some cartilage off. I know he made a on the spot decision with the best intentions, and I hate myself for having had both knees done at once - but now 5 months later I'm definitely worse off.

This situation has me suffering from depression every day and I have grown extremely desperate. I've found a specialist who suggested PRP injections as a conservative treatment. Honestly, I have little faith in its healing properties - but if it provides any relieve, reduce inflammation etc. or if there's a 1/100 chance of improvement then I'll take it.

My concern is, are there any risks / horror stories apart from then usual infection etc. Would anyone advise against it? Are there long term risks? I'm not all too comfortable with placing my trust in an Ortho's word anymore after my Arthroscopy experience.

Looking forward to hearing from you all

[Vickster]

PRP is spun from your own blood so no risks per se other than as with any injection

I've had it into an elbow tendon, excruciating as a relatively large volume going into a small piece of tissue. I imagine into a large knee joint space less of an issue

Never had for knee, quite costly in the uk (done privately) and also my highly trusted OS says the evidence is lacking for long term benefit for articular cartilage, OK for tendons (didn't help the severe damage in my elbow, needed subsequent surgical repair). You'd expect it to help reduce inflammation as full of growth factors, articular cartilage is so hard to repair as no blood supply and lots of shearing forces in the knee while being utilised

[mulberrysdream]

No real risk with PRP...but have you looked into stem cell injections such as BMAC (bone marrow derived), or if you're older than 40-50, also including fat derived stem cells?

It sounds like this is what would really be more beneficial given your issues, it's costsly...but could be a lot more valuable than prp for cartilage issues.

[Leena20]

Hello I was just wondering why you say fat derived stem cells are better when they come from older people? I'm in the UK and might be able to have this done with my surgeon though it seems pretty pricey. As far as I know he said they would come from fat and I'm only 26. Also are MSC stem cells totally safe? Seems they have been doing it for a while in the States but pretty new here. I read they don't use some of the other stem cell types due to risk of teratomas and cancer.