Efficacy and safety of platelet rich plasma in primary osteoarthritis of the knee joint

Author(s): Dr. Atul Rai Sharma, Harkirat Thind, Ravish Grag and Gurmeen Garg

Abstract: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent form of arthritis and a major cause of disability in people aged 50years and older. It is the clinical and pathologic outcome of a range of disorders that results in structural and functional failure of synovial joints. At first, articular cartilage may be the primary injury site but eventually all structures, synovium, muscle, capsule, ligaments and meniscal cartilage are involved. This prospective study was conducted in 60 patients of age 35-70years with grade1-2 osteoarthritis attending orthopedics OPD in a tertiary care centre. Having diagnosed by American College Of Rheumatology Criteria and staged as per Ahlback’s radiological grading along with detailed history of secondary causes and pathological factors inducing osteoarthritis were ruled out.The age of the patients in our study ranged from 35-70 years with the mean age of 53.75 years. Female predominance was noted with females 40 (66.7%) and males constituting 33.3% (20 cases) in our study. In our study majority cases (n=46) presented with grade 2 while rest of the patients presented with grade 1 disease. VAS score depicted decrease in mean of 6.45 at baseline to 3.76 after six months. The improvement was statistically significant with p value (0.002). Total WOMAC score was noted at the end of six months and depicted by p value of (0.000). No complications related to PRP injection were reported. Platelet rich plasma has a role in the treatment of osteoarthritis which in our study is supported by the improvement seen in VAS and WOMAC scores. This improvement is possibly due to the anti inflammatory properties or due to release of various growth factors. PRP may also influence the overall joint homeostasis by reducing hyperplasia of the synovial membrane and modulating cytokines level.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/ortho.2020.v6.i3k.2277