PRP vs Steroid Injections For Knee Pain

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has emerged as a promising therapy for treating knee osteoarthritis (OA) due to its ability to promote healing and control inflammation. In a recent study, 40 patients with mild to moderate symptomatic knee OA were randomly assigned to receive either a single intra-articular injection of PRP or corticosteroid (CS). The study aimed to evaluate and compare the clinical benefits of both therapies.

Both treatments provided short-term pain relief and improvement in knee function. However, after 15 weeks of follow-up, the PRP group showed significant improvements in all scores compared to the CS group. In addition, the patients who received PRP had better outcomes in a longer follow-up visit, up to 1 year, than those who received CS.

The study also found that a single PRP or CS intra-articular injection is safe and well-tolerated, with no significant adverse effects reported. A mild synovitis was registered in 75% of patients in the PRP group within the first week after treatment, which resolved spontaneously.

Overall, the study shows that PRP is a safe and effective therapy for patients with mild to moderate symptomatic knee OA. It can provide long-term benefits and may be a preferable option to corticosteroids, which have limited long-term efficacy. PRP injections may offer an alternative treatment option for those who want to avoid or delay surgery and improve their quality of life.

Elksniņš-Finogejevs A, Vidal L, Peredistijs A. Intra-articular platelet-rich plasma vs corticosteroids in the treatment of moderate knee osteoarthritis: a single-center prospective randomized controlled study with a 1-year follow up. J Orthop Surg Res. 2020 Jul 10;15(1):257. doi: 10.1186/s13018-020-01753-z. PMID: 32650801; PMCID: PMC7353717.

If you want to read the study click here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7353717/