A study of patients with nonunited fractures of long bones found that injection of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) enhanced the rate of union, demonstrated by definitive radiographic evidence of healing.
The study, \"Platelet Concentrate in Treatment of Non Union of Long Bones,\" was conducted by Vijay Kumar, MD; Anjan Trikha, MD; and Rajesh Malhotra, MS, who presented the results. It was conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India.
Patients in the study had clinical and radiological signs of nonunion of the long bones, stable internal fixation or stable reduction with plaster immobilization, and more than 90 percent contact between the fracture fragments. Nonunion was defined as a fracture that had not shown progressive evidence of healing more than 6 months after injury or more than 4 months from last fracture site operation. Patients with gap nonunions, skin infections, or pseudarthrosis; patients unfit for autologous donation (platelet count <130 ×— 109/L, or age older than 60 years); and patients with thrombocytopenia or hypofibrogenemia, or patients taking medicines known to influence platelet function (like aspirin) were excluded from the study.
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