Tennis Elbow

 1. Treatment of Chronic Severe Elbow Tendinosis with Platelet Rich Plasma

Podium Presentation – 2005 Annual American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Meeting

At six months follow-up, patients treated with buffered platelet rich plasma noted an 81% improvement in their visual analog pain scores (p = 0.0001). Treatment of chronic severe epicondylar pain with buffered platelet rich plasma should be considered prior to surgical intervention.

Elbow epicondylar tendinosis is a common problem for patients whose work or activities require strong gripping or repetitive wrist movements.

140 patients with elbow epicondylar pain were evaluated in this study.  Twenty of these patients met the strict chronic, severe inclusion criteria.  All of the patients had failed non-operative treatment and were considering surgical treatment.  A single percutaneous application of platelet rich plasma (PRP, active group) or bupivicaine (control group) was used to treat these twenty patients.

Four weeks after the procedure, the PRP patients noted a 46% improvement in their visual analog pain scores versus a 17% improvement in control patients (p = 0.028).  Eight weeks after the treatment, the PRP patients noted a 60% improvement in their visual analog pain scores versus a 16% improvement control patients (p = 0001).  After eight weeks, 60% of the control patients either formally withdrew from the study or sought other treatments.  Therefore, only the PRP patients were available for further evaluation.  At six months follow-up, the PRP patients noted an 81% improvement in their visual analog pain scores (p = 0.0001).  These PRP patients at the same follow-up period noted a 72% improvement in their Mayo elbow scores (p = 0.0001).

Treatment of chronic severe epicondylar pain with buffered platelet rich plasma should be considered prior to surgical intervention.