Diabetic foot ulcer treatment by activated platelet rich plasma: a clinical study

Diabetic foot ulcer is a major complication of diabetes mellitus. It occurred in about 15% of all diabetic patients. To date, the outcome of management of diabetic foot ulcer is poor and low sufficient. Some new therapies were suggested to manage and treat this disease. In almost therapies, management of diabetic foot ulcer relates to debridement of the wound, revascularization, off-loading of the ulcer, antibacterial actions, stimulating granulation, epidermization and angiogenesis. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of activated platelet rich plasma (aPRP) on diabetic foot ulcer healing on volunteer patients. There were 6 patients enrolled in this study. All patients have non-healing foot ulcers. aPRP was isolated from peripheral blood and activated with calcium chloride. Patients were injected with aPRP two times with 14-day interval. All patients were monitored during 12 weeks. The results showed that 100% (6/6) ulcers completely closed after about 7 weeks. This result initially suggests that aPRP injection is efficient method to treat the non-healing foot ulcers. Level of evidence: IV.