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Dr. Eliseo Mora Sánchez
2023-04-17 |
Platelet-Rich Plasma with Growth Factors
Over the past few decades, much has been written about a preparation called platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and its potential effectiveness in the treatment of injuries.
Many famous athletes — golfer Tiger Woods and tennis star Rafael Nadal among them — have received PRP for various problems, such as sprained knees and chronic tendon injuries. These types of conditions have typically been treated with medications, physical therapy, or even surgery. Some athletes have credited PRP with their being able to return more quickly to competition.
What Is Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP)?
Although blood is mainly a liquid (called plasma), it also contains small solid components (red cells, white cells, and platelets). The platelets are best known for their importance in clotting blood. However, platelets also contain hundreds of proteins called growth factors that are very important in the healing of injuries.
PRP is plasma with many more platelets than what is typically found in blood. The concentration of platelets — and, thereby, the concentration of growth factors — can be 5 to 10 times greater (or richer) than those normally circulating in blood, which is achieved by centrifugation protocols.
WHAT ARE GROWTH FACTORS?
Growth factors are active components involved in tissue repair and angiogenesis.
The range of growth factors that are present in PRP includes those involved in a number of physiologic responses associated with wound repair, such as:
- Revascularization of damaged tissue,
- Connective tissue formation, proliferation, and
-Differentiation of mesenchymal precursor cells into tissue-specific cell types.
To develop a PRP preparation, blood must first be drawn from a patient. The platelets are separated from other blood cells and their concentration is increased by spinning the blood down during a process called centrifugation. These platelets are previously activated in order to release the growth factors, after which they are applied by injection to the damaged site.
Sources:
Bruder, Scott, P. and Aaron Roy. Orthobiologics. Available from: Wolters Kluwer, Wolters Kluwer Health, 2023.
American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. "Platelet-Rich Plasma". OrthoInfo. https://orthoinfo.org/en/treatment/platelet-rich-plasma-prp/. Accessed May 5, 2023.
