Platelet-Rich Plasma injections are when doctors take your blood and spin it down to where they separate out your platelets, and then inject these cells back into your body. In an article published in the journal Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the authors concluded that platelet-rich plasma injections helped people with carpal tunnel syndrome for up to one-year. ~ Dr. Broussard
One-Year Efficacy of Platelet-Rich Plasma for Moderate-to-Severe Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Trial
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
VOLUME 102, ISSUE 5, P951-958, MAY 01, 2021
Si-Ru Chen, MD
Abstract
Objective
To assess the therapeutic effect of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for moderate-to-severe carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).
Design
A prospective, randomized, double-blinded, controlled trial (1-year follow-up).
Setting
Outpatient of local medical center settings.
Participants
Patients (N=26) who were diagnosed with bilateral moderate-to-severe CTS (total 52 wrists) were included. For each patient, one wrist was randomized into either the PRP or control group and the contralateral wrist of the same patient was allocated to another group.
Twenty-four patients were included in the final data analysis.
Interventions
The wrists in the PRP group received a single ultrasound-guided dose of PRP injection (3.5mL), and the control group received a single ultrasound-guided injection with normal saline (3.5mL).
Main Outcome Measures
The Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire (BCTQ) scores were used as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes encompassed the cross-sectional area of the median nerve and electrophysiological study. Assessments were conducted prior to injection and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postinjection.
Results
Compared to the control group, the PRP group exhibited significant improvements in BCTQ severity scores at all time points, BCTQ functional scores at the sixth month, and cross-sectional area at the 12th month postinjection (P<.0125).
Conclusions
A single dose of ultrasound-guided perineural PRP injection can provide therapeutic effect for 1 year post-injection.