Platelet rich plasma (PRP) and its use in sports medicine has grown over recent years mostly due to high profile athletes receiving the treatment. Several studies are currently underway to see if PRP can potentially be a successful form of therapy for certain sports medicine conditions. Early studies are very promising.
A PRP injection for plantar fasciitis study was recently presented at the 12th EFORT Congress in Copenhagen by Dr. Raymond Monto. Dr. Monto wanted to see if PRP injection therapy would be a better treatment choice than a cortisone injection when treating chronic plantar fasciitis. 40 patients were randomly chosen to either receive a PRP injection or cortisone injection. The injections were performed with the guidance of an ultrasound machine. Monto states,
“In this well-documented subset, PRP is significantly more effective than cortisone both in short and long term management for severe chronic plantar fasciitis. No patients experienced complications.”
It may be only a matter of time before platelet rich plasma becomes a standard of care for chronic soft tissue conditions.
