Comparing PRP to Hyaluronic Acid injections for the treatment of knee chondropathy or osteoarthritis

Platelet-rich plasma vs hyaluronic acid to treat knee degenerative pathology: study design and preliminary results of a randomized controlled trial.

Article specifications

This clinical trial was published in 2012 in journal of BMC Musculoskelet Disord. (IF 2012: 3.05) by Italian orthopedics. The aim of this study is to show, through a randomized double blind prospective trial, the efficacy of this procedure, by comparing PRP to Hyaluronic Acid (HA) injections for the treatment of knee chondropathy or osteoarthritis (OA). 109 patients (55 treated with HA and 54 with PRP) were treated and evaluated at 12 months of follow-up.

 

Results

Results suggest that PRP injections offer a significant clinical improvement up to one year of follow-up. However, conversely to what was shown by the current literature, for middle-aged patients with moderate signs of OA, PRP results were not better than those obtained with HA injections, and thus it should not be considered as first line treatment. More promising results are shown for its use in low grade degeneration, but they still have to be confirmed.