Clinical and functional outcomes following platelet rich plasma in the management of knee osteoarthritis: A case series in a tertiary care hospital.

Objective: To clinically assess the efficacy of Platelet rich Plasma (PRP) in improving the functional movement in knee osteoarthritis.

Methods: This prospective case series, on 89 patients, was studied in Sindh Rangers Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan from 1st October 2018 to 31st March 2019. The analysis involved all patients aged 30-65 years diagnosed with grade 1, 2 and 3 arthritis. PRP was administered in three doses one month apart, and patients were evaluated for outcome measures after the third month of the third dose of PRP. To measure functional improvement in knee osteoarthritis, the range of motion (ROM), McMaster University Osteoarthritis index (WOMAC), Western Ontario, and Visual analogue scale (VAS) were used.

Results: PRP was infused into 89 patients, with a mean age of 61.24±8.92 years. The average pre-treatment WOMAC score was 37.0 ±2.9, and it was lowered to 18.8± 5.2 after PRP (p<0.02). The pre-treatment VAS was 8.42 ±0.84, and it was reduced to 4.91±2.12, indicating mild to moderate pain. Our PRP therapy was appreciated by 63 (70.07%) patients, while 17 (19.1%) were only partly satisfied. However, 9 (10.1%) patients were dissatisfied.

Conclusions: The results of this case series showed that the use of PRP injections for treating osteoarthritis (grade 1 to 3) proved to be successful in terms of improving functional outcomes and reducing pain intensity.