PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Larry E Miller
AU  - William R Parrish
AU  - Breana Roides
AU  - Samir Bhattacharyya
TI  - Efficacy of platelet-rich plasma injections for symptomatic tendinopathy: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised injection-controlled trials
AID  - 10.1136/bmjsem-2017-000237
DP  - 2017 Nov 01
TA  - BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine
PG  - e000237
VI  - 3
IP  - 1
4099  - http://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/3/1/e000237.short
4100  - http://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/3/1/e000237.full
SO  - BMJ OPEN SP EX MED2017 Nov 01; 3
AB  - Aim To determine the efficacy of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections for symptomatic tendinopathy.Design Systematic review of randomised, injection-controlled trials with meta-analysis.Data sources Systematic searches of MEDLINE and EMBASE, supplemented by manual searches.Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Randomised controlled trials with 3 months minimum follow-up that evaluated pain reduction with PRP versus control (saline, local anaesthetic, corticosteroid) injections in patients with symptomatic tendinopathy.Results A total of 16 randomised controlled trials (18 groups) of PRP versus control were included. Median sample size was 35 patients, a study size that would require an effect size ≥1.0 to achieve statistical significance. PRP was more efficacious than control in reducing tendinopathy pain, with an effect size of 0.47 (95% CI 0.22 to 0.72, p<0.001), signifying a moderate treatment effect. Heterogeneity among studies was moderate (I2=67%, p<0.001). In subgroup analysis and meta-regression, studies with a higher proportion of female patients were associated with greater treatment benefits with PRP.Conclusions Injection of PRP is more efficacious than control injections in patients with symptomatic tendinopathy.