Effect of intra-articular platelet-rich plasma vs placebo injection on pain and medial tibial cartilage volume in patients with knee osteoarthritis: the RESTORE randomized clinical trial

Review written by Dr Anthony Teoli info

Key Points

  1. Among adults with mild-to-moderate knee osteoarthritis, treatment with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) vs saline injection did not significantly improve knee pain or slow disease progression.
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BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an autologous blood product containing high levels of growth factors and cytokines with the potential to alter biological processes implicated in the osteoarthritis (OA) pathogenesis and symptoms (1). PRP is increasingly being used in the management of knee OA, despite current OA clinical guidelines recommending against PRP because of very low-quality evidence (2,3).

As a result, the objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of intra-articular PRP injections on symptoms and joint structure in patients with knee OA.

PRP is increasingly being used in the management of knee OA, despite current OA clinical guidelines recommending against PRP.
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The mean cost per PRP injection is estimated to be approximately $2032, which is quite costly for an intervention that does not appear to be more effective than a placebo injection.

METHODS

  • This study was a randomized, 2-group, placebo-controlled, participant-, injector-, and assessor-blinded clinical trial.
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