Abstract
The purpose of our study was to determine the efficacy of Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) treatment in symptomatic patients with early knee osteoarthritis.
Material and Methods: We prospectively followed up 80 patients with knee OA (Kellgren-Lawrence classification grade 1-3) for a minimum follow up of 24 months. Mean age of patients was 47.7 years. All patients were treated with 2 intra-articular injections at monthly interval with autologous PRP. Twenty-two of the patients repeated the 2 infiltrations at 6 and 12 months and 25 of the patients repeated the 2 infiltrations at 12 and 18 months, while 33 patients had only the initial 2 infiltrations. Half of the patients included in this study had undergone a previous operative intervention for cartilage lesions; previous cartilage interventions included cartilage shaving and microfracture. KOOS, VAS, Tegner, IKDC and MARX scores were collected at pre-treatment evaluation and at 6, 12, 18 and 24-month follow-up.