Platelet Rich Plasma Prolotherapy as a First-Line Treatment for Meniscal Pathology

27 Nov Platelet Rich Plasma Prolotherapy as a First-Line Treatment for Meniscal Pathology

Meniscus injuries are a common cause of knee pain, accounting for a large number of surgeries in the U.S. annually. While surgical treatments range from total to partial meniscectomy, meniscal repair and even meniscus transplantation, all have a high long-term failure rate with the recurrence of symptoms. The most serious of the long-term post-surgical consequences is an acceleration of joint degeneration. The poor healing potential of meniscus tears, along with the consequence of post-surgical joint degeneration, has led to the investigation of methods to stimulate non-surgical, biological meniscal repair. While platelet rich plasma prolotherapy (PRPP) has been studied for many types of connective tissue injuries, no study has focused specifically on its use for meniscus tears. Hauser et al give a very comprehensive review of the anatomy and pathophysiology of meniscus tears, with five case reports of MRI-documented meniscus tears successfully treated with PRPP. While further study under more controlled circumstances is needed, the logic of the authors’ discussion and the results reported clearly validate the use of platelet rich plasma prolotherapy as a first-line treatment for meniscus tears.

— Donna Alderman, DO