PRP for Mensical Tears

One thing I hear a lot from patients with a variety of injuries is “I don’t want surgery.” Though sometimes necessary, all surgeries have inherent risks and choosing to have surgery should involve a detailed discussion of the risks and benefits.

As a physiatrist, my priority is to offer non-surgical treatment options for musculoskeletal injuries. One injury that is often treated with surgery is a meniscal tear in the knee. The meniscus is a cartilage-like structure in both sides of the knee joints. Due to poor blood supply to the inner portion of the meniscus, tears in this area are difficult to heal and often require surgery.

Recent studies, however, have shown that meniscus surgery can lead to early osteoarthritis in the knee later on (http://www.biospace.com/News/radiological-society-of-north-america-rsna-release/356848).

An emerging alternative to this type of surgery is platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections. A recent case report of a patient with a significant meniscal tear showed complete healing of the tear following a series of three PRP injections into the meniscus (http://www.pmrjournal.org/article/S1934-1482(16)30158-7/abstract). The use of regenerative therapies is expanding and the potential to be able to use this therapy as a non-surgical alternative is exciting.