Evaluation of efficacy and safety of intraarticular injections of leucocyte poor platelet rich plasma in osteoarthritis knee patients

Abstract

Background: The present study evaluates the safety and efficacy of intraarticular injections of leucocyte poor platelet rich plasma (LP-PRP) in osteoarthritis (OA) knee patients. Patients with early osteoarthritis (K-L grading 1 and 2)-clinically and radiologically and those who gave consent to participate in the study were injected with 2.4 ml per knee of LP-PRP over unilateral or bilateral knees at 0, 1, 2 and 6 months of LP-PRP injections. Methods: 100 patients with osteoarthritis knee pain were injected with LP-PRP at 0.1.2 months on OPD basis. LP-PRP was prepared in a centrifugation machine at 2000 RPM for 4 minutes and 2000 RPM for 10 minutes for two consecutive times and then injected into knee with a medial suprapatellar approach using 20/21 G needle. This was repeated at 1 and 2 months of follow-up. Assessment of efficacy in terms of pain relief was done on the basis of visual analog score (VAS) and clinical outcomes on the basis of knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome scores (KOOS) at 0, 1, 2, 6 months following injection of LP-PRP. Results: The mean VAS at pre-injection was 7.22±0.965 which reduced to 3.06±1.223 at post-injection follow-up at 6 months. The mean KOOS at pre injection was 33.4±7.51 which increased to 78.86±8.80 at post-injection follow-up at 6 months. Conclusions: LP-PRP has emerged as an intriguing therapy option for knee OA, and our study has shown that it is effective after 6 months.