Effectiveness of platelet-rich plasma therapy for painful conditions

A pilot study evaluating the effectiveness of platelet-rich plasma therapy for treating degenerative tendinopathies

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN68341698

Enrollment

Registered

2015-07-13

Start date

2011-07-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2023-08-28

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Tendinopathy Musculoskeletal Diseases

Interventions

Patients enrolled in the trial were randomly assigned to either a PRP or placebo control group by pulling group assignment out of a box without replacement. At the time of enrolment, all participants

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy treated at the Glen Sather Sport Medicine Clinic (GSSMC) in Alberta, Canada, between July 2011 and July 2014 were assessed for eligibility. Inclusion criteria were: 1. Patients between 35 and 60 years of age 2. Minimum of 3-month history of non-traumatic shoulder pain that was unresponsive to previous conservative treatment (including analgesia, subacromial steroid injection and physical therapy) 3. Tendinosis/tendinopathy or partial thickness tears in the supraspinatus and/or infraspinatous tendons confirmed using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). All participants had MRI of the affected shoulder prior to referral for consideration of enrolment in the study

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Patients were excluded if they had: 1. A history of rotator cuff repair 2. Traumatic injury to the shoulder inducing pathology 3. MRI findings showing full thickness rotator cuff tear 4. Previous PRP treatment for the rotator cuff 5. Shoulder pain due to a work-related injury/complaint 6. Diabetes

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Since PRP treatment aims to facilitate tendon healing, reduce pain and increase functional ability, we measured self-report pain intensity and disability using self-report outcome measures as described below, as well as objective clinical evaluations that included assessment of the pre- and post-injection MRI findings. Musculoskeletal radiologists evaluated the MRI results qualitatively and quantitatively where possible using size of the tear in millimeters. MRI was conducted before the injection then repeated 6 months following the study PRP injection. Post-injection findings were compared to pre-injection findings by the assessing radiologist. 1. Three 10-point VAS measures were used in all patients to measure pain intensity, ability to do daily activities, and physical activity/exercise. These were anchored at 0 with ‘no pain’ and 10 ‘worst imaginable’. These scales were completed before injection and at each follow-up. The minimum clinically important difference for the 10-point VAS was considered to be 1.5/10. 2. We also measured disability and health-related quality of life using the Disabilities of the Arm Shoulder and Hand (DASH) and Western Ontario Rotator Cuff (WORC) Index questionnaires. These were completed before injection and at each follow-up assessment. The DASH questionnaire is a commonly used, self-report, region-specific outcome instrument developed as a measure of self-rated upper-extremity disability and symptoms. The DASH consists mainly of a 30-item disability/symptom scale, scored from 0 to 100. The Western Ontario Rotator Cuff (WORC) Index questionnaire is a self-report questionnaire consisting of 21 items representing 5 domains to assess disease-specific quality-of-life. There are 6 questions in the physical symptoms domain, 4 in the sports and recreation domain, 4 in the work domain, 4 in the lifestyle domain, and 3 in the emotions domain. All DASH and WORC scores were converted into a standardized score out of 100. Lower DASH scores indi	—

Measure

Time frame

Since PRP treatment aims to facilitate tendon healing, reduce pain and increase functional ability, we measured self-report pain intensity and disability using self-report outcome measures as described below, as well as objective clinical evaluations that included assessment of the pre- and post-injection MRI findings. Musculoskeletal radiologists evaluated the MRI results qualitatively and quantitatively where possible using size of the tear in millimeters. MRI was conducted before the injection then repeated 6 months following the study PRP injection. Post-injection findings were compared to pre-injection findings by the assessing radiologist. 1. Three 10-point VAS measures were used in all patients to measure pain intensity, ability to do daily activities, and physical activity/exercise. These were anchored at 0 with ‘no pain’ and 10 ‘worst imaginable’. These scales were completed before injection and at each follow-up. The minimum clinically important difference for the 10-point VAS was considered to be 1.5/10. 2. We also measured disability and health-related quality of life using the Disabilities of the Arm Shoulder and Hand (DASH) and Western Ontario Rotator Cuff (WORC) Index questionnaires. These were completed before injection and at each follow-up assessment. The DASH questionnaire is a commonly used, self-report, region-specific outcome instrument developed as a measure of self-rated upper-extremity disability and symptoms. The DASH consists mainly of a 30-item disability/symptom scale, scored from 0 to 100. The Western Ontario Rotator Cuff (WORC) Index questionnaire is a self-report questionnaire consisting of 21 items representing 5 domains to assess disease-specific quality-of-life. There are 6 questions in the physical symptoms domain, 4 in the sports and recreation domain, 4 in the work domain, 4 in the lifestyle domain, and 3 in the emotions domain. All DASH and WORC scores were converted into a standardized score out of 100. Lower DASH scores indi

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
There are no secondary outcome measures	—

Countries

Canada

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Mar 2, 2026