Functionality and quality of life of patients with knee osteoarthritis after platelet-rich therapy

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the functional capacity and quality of life of patients with knee osteoarthritis submitted to platelet-rich plasma injection. Methods: Observational cross-sectional study carried out with 31 subjects seen at the orthopedics outpatient clinic of a university hospital in a municipality in northwestern Paraná, from 2016 to 2017. For data collection, a sociodemographic questionnaire was used, the Short Form36 and Lequesne's Algofunctional Questionnaire. For data analysis, descriptive statistics were used, with measures of dispersion, interquartile range and non-parametric Wilcoxon test. A 95% confidence level was established, and associations with p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. All analyzes were performed using the R statistical environment. Results: Most patients were female, with a mean age of 59.8 years (SD ± 12.2). In the pre-intervention with platelet-rich plasma, all subjects were classified in the extremely severe category. There was a significant improvement in all eight Short Form-36 domains, as well as pain reduction and functional recovery in the 31 patients. Conclusion: Platelet-rich therapy through injection in patients with knee osteoarthritis improved quality of life and reduced pain with increased operational capacity.