Platelet-Rich Plasma works for rotator cuff partial tears.

At Integrative Sports Medicine, we know from experience treating carefully-selected patients that PRP can work well in getting the rotator cuff to heal, and now we have a really strong piece of literature to further back that up.  This paper was released in the most recent issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, The Official Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine. The study was performed as a double-blind, randomized controlled trial showing the superiority of both PRP and PRP+hyaluronic acid (Hyalgan, Synvisc, Euflexxa etc. commonly used for osteoarthritis) in treating partial-thickness rotator cuff tears vs. sham (saline) and steroid.

The summary is that this study demonstrated “the following outcomes: 1) PRP enhanced the recovery of small to medium bursal-sided partial thickness rotator cuff tears by alleviating pain and improving the Constant and ASES scores, and 2) Sodium Hyaluronate in combination with PRP had a better effect compared with PRP injection alone.”

To learn more about this groundbreaking study, click here.

 

Citation:

Cai, Yu, et al. “Sodium Hyaluronate and Platelet-Rich Plasma for Partial-Thickness Rotator Cuff Tears.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, Sept. 2018, p. 1., doi:10.1249/mss.0000000000001781.