Autologous Platelet-Rich Concentrates Show Potential in Periodontal Therapy, but Evidence Remains Inconclusive: Meta-Analysis

To fill this knowledge gap, Nazurah Nik Eezammuddeen, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Jalan Hospital, Sungai Buloh, Malaysia, and colleagues aimed to assess the effectiveness of autologous platelet concentrates in improving periodontal outcomes in patients undergoing nonsurgical therapy for periodontitis.

For this purpose, the researchers conducted an electronic search through Web of Science, MEDLINE via PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane CENTRAL registry, along with a manual search from June to July 2024 for relevant publications. Studies were included if they reported on periodontal outcomes after adjunctive APC in NSPT and excluded if unpublished or not in English. Two independent reviewers assessed the articles, and the risk of bias was evaluated using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (RoB 2). A fixed-effect meta-analysis was performed to measure changes in periodontal pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL), with statistical heterogeneity assessed using the I2 test.

Key Findings:

• A total of 607 records were identified from four electronic databases.
• After removing duplicates and conducting initial title screening, 16 full-text articles from the electronic search and seven articles from the manual search were assessed.
• Ultimately, 13 studies were included in the systematic review.
• Most studies had a moderate to high risk of bias.
• The fixed-effect meta-analysis showed that adjunctive APC use in nonsurgical periodontal therapy favored positive outcomes but with high heterogeneity between studies, particularly for CAL.

Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that the evidence supporting the use of APC as an adjunct in NSPT is limited due to the small number of studies, the moderate to high risk of bias in most studies, and significant heterogeneity in the results.

Reference:

Nik Eezammuddeen, N., Johari, N. N., Demius, O., & Hussain, F. (2024). The effectiveness of autologous platelet-rich concentrates as an adjunct during nonsurgical periodontal therapy: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Evidence-Based Dentistry, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41432-024-01060-0