Role of Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) in Osteoarthritis Knee

Introduction: Osteoarthritis of knee is a common condition affecting quality of life after the age of 40 years. Besides conservative measures of exercises and drugs, intra-articular injections of steroid and hyaluronic acid have been used for symptomatic relief. Autologous Platelet rich plasma (PRP) is being used recently with promising results. Material and Methods: 50 patients of primary osteoarthritis knee more than 40 years were given singe injection of 2ml of concentrated autologous PRP in the affected knee joint. They were followed at 1, 3 and 6 months. VAS and WOMAC scores were used for assessment of pain relief and functional status including quality of life. Results: All the patients showed statistically significant progressive decline in both the scores. WOMAC score decreased from baseline 59 to 51.96 at 1 month, 48.8 at 3 months and 43.62 at 6 months (p value=0.0001). VAS score decreased from 6.26 at baseline to 5.18 at 1 month, 4.66 at 3 months to 4.18 at 6 months (p=0.0001). Conclusion: Single injection of autologous PRP is effective in reducing pain and improving quality of life progressively for 6 months.