PRP THERAPY RESEARCH
PLATELET RICH PLASMA (PRP)
Healing after an injury involves a well-managed and complex series of events where proteins in the blood act as messengers to regulate the entire process. Many proteins involved in the healing process are derived from small cell fragments in the blood called platelets.
Platelets are small, colorless, cell fragments present in the blood. They are formed in the bone marrow and are freely passing through the bloodstream in a resting state. However, when an injury occurs, the platelets become activated and start to gather at the injury site to release beneficial proteins called growth factors. This is the beginning of the healing process.
For many years, blood components derived from the patient and then delivered to the site of injury have created growing interest for use in orthopaedic procedures. New research and technology has expanded the application of this therapy for use in orthopaedic procedures.
For severe problems like as osteoarthritis of joints, we must create a bigger response and provide more assistance to the body by delivering larger numbers of stem cells into the affected area. This is accomplished by injecting stem cells from adipose tissue and/or bone marrow directly into the area. Typically Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) simply can’t recruit enough stem cells to adequately repair this level of injury.
Stem cells are rudimentary cells that can differentiate into other cells of the body. The goal of stem cell injections into the arthritic joint is to resurface cartilaginous structures and repair other diseased elements of the joint.
Mesenchymal stem cells are the cells that repair and regenerate muscle, bone, cartilage, or tendons and the richest source of these types of cells in the body is found in adipose tissue, your fat! Current fat stem cell harvest procedures are very labor intensive and not practical for most practices although new techniques are being developed to accomplish this process with consistency and safety. Often a small fat graft is added to a stem cell injection. The fat graft provides a source of additional stem cells, favorable chemical mediators and a substrate or template which will help keep the stem cell injection localized. The fat graft is typically harvested from the lower abdomen or flank (love handles).
WHAT IS PLATELET RICH PLASMA
Platelet Rich Plasma is a concentration of platelets and growth factors created from a small amount of your own blood or bone marrow. Increased levels of growth factors have the potential to improve signaling and recruitment of cells. This concentrated portion of the blood or bone marrow is often referred to as platelet-rich plasma (PRP).
STEM CELL THERAPY
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