STUDY TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY OF PLATELET-RICH PLASMA INJECTION IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CHRONIC NONHEALING WOUNDS

Abstract

Objective: The aim was to evaluate the efcacy of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in treating chronic non healing wounds. Non healing ulcers are a signicant health problem with a high costs in Background: terms of human and material resources. The application of autologous PRP has been a signicant breakthrough for treating non healing ulcers ,as it is an easy and cost-effective method and provides the necessary growth factors that enhance wound healing. A prospective study was conducted from September 2018 to March 2020 at Narayana Medi Methodology: cal college. A total of 30 cases with chronic non healing ulcers of various causes (traumatic, diabetic, pressure, venous ulcers),at least six weeks old with wound area measurement between 2 cm2and 10 cm2are injected with autologous platelet-rich plasma injection twice weekly. Wound contraction was measured every 4th day and represented as a percentage of healing wound area and followed up for 6 weeks. The mean age± SD of the patients was 49.36±14.05.According to Results: the etiology, non healing ulcers are again classied as traumatic, diabetic, decubitus ulcers, venous and others (postoperative wounds, Hansen's disease)which constitutes 40%,27%,17%,3%,13% respectively. The healing rates of the various ulcers were monitored in weekly intervals till the sixth week. Among 30 patients,17 patients(57%) showed complete healing ,3 patients (10%) showed 99-90% healing ,5 patients (17%) showed 80-89% healing ,5 patients(17%) showed 80-89% healing ,4 patients (13%) showed 50-79% healing,1 patients (3%) showed <50% healing. Area reduction was statistically signicant (p-value is <0.001) Conclusion: Conventional therapies do not provide good healing for chronic nonhealing ulcers as they are not able to provide the necessary growth factors essential for the healing process.PRP is a safe, affordable, biocompatible, and simple OPD based procedure for treating nonhealing ulcers.