Platelet-rich Plasma - What is it?
Biotechnology of the future being practiced today at Australian Osteoarthritis Clinic
For over 20 years platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been safely used in various fields of medicine without knowledge of what specific factors make it work. As our understanding of cellular mechanisms in tissue healing and regeneration has improved, there has been a recently renewed focus (particularly within Europe and the United States) on the use of autologous (your own) blood products such as PRP in musculoskeletal medicine.
PRP theoretically provides a useful therapy in conjunction with traditional rehabilitation and can be a potential alternative to more invasive surgical options. There is growing evidence to support PRP use and it now has widespread acceptance in Australia. Australian Osteoarthritis Clinic is now using PRP quite widely with people suffering in the early stages of OA.
Australian Osteoarthritis Clinic's understanding of the healing mechanism and tissue regeneration has seen medical treatments shift towards the area of blood-based products - with a more focused effort on developing ways in which we can assist the body to heal. Autologous platelet-rich plasma is one such medium that has become both widely used and studied as a medium to accelerate tissue healing over a broad area of applications.
Autologous PRP is defined as a volume of the plasma in blood having a platelet concentration above that of baseline. Platelets are important as they secrete growth factors that assist healing. Whereby once we only understood platelets as being involved in blood clotting, we now appreciate their wider effect on tissue healing.
Within PRP preparations, growth factors released by platelets include transforming growth factor-beta, vascular endothelial growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, and epithelial growth factor. Growth factors expressed by platelets can influence and direct tissue regeneration. Platelets also release some molecules such as fibronectin, fibrinogen, and vitronectin which influence tissue development/regeneration.
The ability to influence such powerful pathways of healing has seen PRP explored as a treatment option in orthopaedics, sports medicine, maxillo-facial surgery, and plastic surgery.
Platelet-rich plasma still has inconclusive evidence to support its use, with some studies indicating significant benefits whilst others showing no change. At Australian Osteoarthritis Clinic, we believe the growing base of high-quality evidence about PRP use will grow. One problem with PRP use is that the ‘recipe’ used can vary between treatment approaches. Stay tuned for our next post that will discuss this ‘recipe’ further.
Should you have any questions regarding PRP, contact our administration team on 03 9270 8080.