New
Treatment Eases Knee Osteoarthritis
Thursday,
14 Feb 2013 03:42 PM
By Nick
Tate
An
experimental new treatment that uses a patient’s own blood platelets to ease
knee arthritis has been found to be effective and safe, potentially offering a
natural alternative to cortisone shots and other current therapies.
The
treatment — known as PRP, short for platelet-rich plasma — involves injecting
the liquid component of a patient’s own blood into the knee to deliver a high
concentration of growth factors to arthritic cartilage that can enhance
healing.
A study, by
researchers from the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, has shown
that PRP greatly improves pain and function in patients with knee
osteoarthritis. It also found that the treatment appeared to delay the
progression of the disease in up to 73 percent of patients.
"This
is a very positive study," said Brian Halpern, M.D., chief of the Primary
Care Sports Medicine Service at the hospital, who led the study, published
online in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine.