Evaluate the effect of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and hyaluronic acid (HA) in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis

Is local platelet-rich plasma injection clinically superior to hyaluronic acid for treatment of knee osteoarthritis? a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Article specifications

This systematic review study was published in 2018 in Journal of Arthritis Res Ther. (IF 2017: 4.269) by Chinese specialists. The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, and Embase databases were searched for English-language, human in vivo studies on the treatment of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis with intra-articular PRP compared with HA. Seven articles reporting 908 patients and 908 knees were analyzed, including 44% men and 56% women with a mean age of 59.8 years.

 

Result

PRP intra-articular injection of the knee may be an effective alternative treatment for knee OA, especially in patients with mild knee OA. Although some studies suggested that the effect of PRP was no better than HA, we found that it was no worse. A large, multicenter, randomized trial is needed to further assess the efficacy of PRP treatment for patients with knee OA.