Treatment of degenerative meniscal tear with intrameniscal injection of platelets rich plasma.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this retrospective study was to describe our preliminary results of intra-meniscal administration of platelet rich plasma (PRP) in patients with degenerative meniscal tears of the knee. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Ten patients with degenerative meniscal tears according to the Stoller classification and without knee osteoarthritis were included. There were 7 men and 3 women with a mean age of 40.4±13.6 [SD] years (range 18-59 years). Patients were prospectively assessed at baseline and 3- and 6-months after intra meniscal PRP administration. Evaluation included the knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score (KOOS), pain visual analog scale, and return to competition and training. MRI follow-up was performed 6 months after PRP administration. Adverse events were recorded. RESULTS: Volume of injected PRP was standardized to 4.0mL. Adverse events during PRP administration was moderate pain in 8 patients (8/10; 80%). Mean KOOS total score significantly improved from 56.6±15.7 (SD) to 72.7±18.5 (SD) (P=0.0007). All six patients practicing sports regularly were able to recover competition or training. In seven patients who underwent MRI follow-up at 6 months, MRI showed stability of the meniscal tears and similar Stoller grades. CONCLUSION: Intra-meniscal administration of PRP under ultrasound guidance directly into meniscal degenerative lesions is feasible and safe. Further randomized controlled studies are needed to definitely confirm the effectiveness of this procedure.