Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)
Platelet rich plasma (PRP) is one option that is currently available at SOAR. PRP is defined as an autologous superconcentrate of platelets used to accelerate healing in injured live tissues; the superconcentrate platelet count is greater than the patient’s whole blood platelet count. This platelet-rich derivative of blood is obtained after a blood sample is withdrawn from a patient’s vein, spun down in a special centrifuge, and separated from the other blood constituents after centrifugation with a specialized, multi-compartmentalized syringe.
When PRP is injected into damaged tendons or ligaments, it is believed that the PRP stimulates cells in the tissue—along with new cells circulating in the blood—to bring even more new cells to the injured site. Plasma containing this concentrated level of platelets provides an abundance of the previously mentioned growth factors, which can help stimulate the healing process.
Because the patient’s own blood is used to make PRP—this is known as an autologous process—there is no risk of the treatment being rejected, as it might if the blood had been provided by a donor.