Platelet Rich Plasma Injection

Probably the most annoying part about our profession is the incredibly large amount of continuing education hours required. To get hours typically includes sitting through the most boring lecture and talks for up to 12 hours at a time. But then there's the other side of the spectrum, when you actually sit in on a surprisingly amazing lecture, so amazing that it changes the way you refer in your practice. In my husband and my office, we have teamed up with different Doctors from different fields to provide the best care possible to our patients. These include an orthopedist, podiatrist, pain management specialist and physical therapist. But one dreary, cold Wednesday evening last year, this sort of changed. We still use the same doctors when needed, but for knees, hips, shoulders and other joints we typically refer to Dr. Chadwick Prodromos of Illinois Sportsmedicine and Orthopaedic Centers. After listening to his lecture on knee, we were immediately impressed and wanted to learn more. He threw out statistics such as 80% of eligible patients successfully treated with PRP (platelet rich plasma) injections do not have to go through total joint replacement surgery. This amazed me, and if it was true, would save a lot of people from undergoing unnecessary cortisone injections or surgeries for conditions such as arthritis and tendonitis.

So what exactly is PRP? Platelets are found in blood, they are responsible for clotting. They also contain natural growth factors that the body uses to enhance healing. PRP is plasma in which the platelets have bene separated and concentrated by being spun in a centrifuge. These platelets are then injected into the areas of pain. PRP decreases pain and inflammation and enhances healing. Another bonus to PRP is that, unlike cortisone injections, the procedure can be repeated as many times as needed since there is no harm to the tissue as in cortisone injections. It is a very low risk procedure. The best part to me is that the procedure uses your own blood/plasma to heal your own body. Dr. Prodromos is currently performing this treatment as a 'trial' so it is technically considered an 'experimental procedure,' however they have tons of research to back it up. Here is a link if you would like to learn more on your own. We have now referred at least 25 patients over to him and the ones that were eligible for the procedure are doing well and have much less pain than before. So from our own research standpoint, we have had no negative feedback but did have a handful of patients that did not qualify for the procedure.

As I write this, my own mom is undergoing her first injection. I am anxious to hear how it goes and to follow her progress. I will most certainly update when I get more information from her. Also, here is the link to his website if you want to learn more or do your own research.