Abstract: Introduction: Tendinopathy is a repetitive strain injury caused by repetitive overuse of the muscles of the body. It causes pain and functional impairment in daily activities. The treatment of this condition includes conservative therapy and surgical interventions. The effectiveness of oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents, topical and injectable medications including corticosteroids and botulinum toxins, splinting, physical therapy, and iontophoresis has been evaluated in many studies. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy has been utilized for nearly two decades to treat degenerative joint disease and speed recovery from soft tissue injuries to tendons, muscles and ligaments.
Aim: The present study aims at evaluating the results of PRP treatment in chronic tendinopathy and assessment of joint function and functional abilities of patients in follow up studies.
Materials and Methods: This study was a prospective, comparative, single blind study, carried out in 30 patient. The patients were assessed pre procedure and post procedure in form of range of movements, pain, tenderness, joint stiffness and early mobilization. Quantity of PRP given was 2 ml in < 6 month chronicity and 3ml in > 6 month chronicity. The functional outcome of PRP treatment was evaluated with visual analogue score.
Results and Discussion: The functional outcome i.e. pain improvement in our study was evaluated using VAS (Visual analogue Score). About 64% patients in our study attained excellent VAS scores. Our results were comparable to the results obtained by Mishra and his colleagues8, in 2006, where patients who had received PRP treatment showed 60% improvement in their VAAS pain score.
Conclusion: Our study had shown good to excellent symptom improvement in 90% of patient. Almost all patient treated with PRP had good range of motion and pain relief at the end of the study and most of patients were able to do their routine or previous work and activities without any difficulty. Being newer techniques, PRP treatment requires further evaluation and there is a steep learning curve
