Are All PRP Treatments The Same?

Platelet-rich plasma treatments can be used to help manage osteoarthritis pain and tendon injury. To understand if you are a good candidate for PRP it is important to understand the severity of arthritis and the nature of the tendon injury. The use of PRP is becoming increasingly common in medical practice, but not all PRP is the same. There can be large discrepancies in PRP composition, and most patients don’t understand these differences.

The optimal platelet concentration for PRP has not been identified yet, but in general, the ideal platelet concentration for knee osteoarthritis and tendinopathies is between a 3 to 4x increase in baseline platelets.  EmCyte kits have produced PRP with an average platelet concentration of 7x baseline, with some studies showing an increase of greater than 9x baseline concentration.

Administering an adequate dose of platelets is the cornerstone of PRP therapy, and this is one of the reasons we use the Emcyte system. You can also buy this PRP kit via 5linebiologics.com/platelet-rich-plasma for pure PRP extraction.

 

Anticoagulants are used in the preparation of PRP to prevent the blood from clotting and platelets from degranulating and releasing growth factors when processed in the centrifuge. The choice of anticoagulants can significantly impact platelet recovery rates. In one study, sodium citrate had twice the platelet recovery rate compared to anticoagulant citrate dextrose solution.