Preparation Methods and Clinical Outcomes of Platelet-Rich Plasma for Intra-articular Hip Disorders
Hip preservation treatments have become increasingly investigated in the past few decades. Particularly with the advent of orthobiologics, such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and stem cells, common intra-articular hip pathologies are now managed with injections. However, as studies have only begun to investigate the efficacy of PRP for treatment of these injuries, the current literature reports conflicting patient-reported outcomes. As such, questions remain regarding the preparation methods of PRP and its clinical applications for intra-articular hip disorders: including femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS), labral pathology, and osteoarthritis (OA). In this study, our team systematically reviewed the literature to assess the preparation methods and clinical outcomes from randomized clinical trials on the use of this treatment modality for these hip injuries.
Studies showed that treatment of osteoarthritis in the hip with PRP demonstrated significant reductions in pain and improved patient-reported outcomes for up to 1 year after surgery. Though insignificant, improvements were also seen in patient with other hip pathologies treated with PRP. However, the methodology by which PRP was prepared in all included studies was vastly different, making the pooled results unnormalized. The current investigation concludes that, though PRP may provide improved clinical outcomes, more studies need to be conducted to successfully validate these injectables as a viable treatment option. Additionally, a standardization of PRP preparation is important for future research to successfully compare patient outcomes following treatment with biologics.
