Platelet-rich plasma effective treatment option for venous ulcers: Study

A new review study published in the recent issue of the Wound Repair and Regeneration journal found study data to support the use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in the treatment of venous ulcer patients. Ulcers or chronic wounds are skin breaches that often reoccur and either do not heal at all or take a very long period to cure. Numerous ulcer forms, including venous, arterial, diabetic, pressure, and traumatic ulcers, can be classified as non-healing ulcers. The most prevalent type of chronic ulcers affecting the lower extremities among all of them are venous ulcers, which have a major effect on both job productivity and quality of life. In the population over 60, the prevalence of chronic venous insufficiency ranges from 1% to 2%. In the past, anatomical processes of valvular incompetence were the main focus of research on venous reflux illness. Recent studies on the cellular and molecular causes of venous insufficiency have demonstrated that the illness is a multifaceted, intricate process that reflects both cellular inflammatory response and systemic anomalies in connective tissue formation.

PRP, or autologous platelet rich plasma, is a blood-derived substance that is becoming more and more popular in therapeutic settings. Among its many uses, PRP has replaced traditional dressings for the treatment of chronic ulcers. Thus, this study by Tianbo Shi and colleagues was to assess the clinical evidence supporting the use of platelet-rich plasma in the treatment of venous ulcers (VUs). Electronic searches utilized Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library data and to evaluate the methodological quality, AMSTAR-2 was employed. The GRADE method was used to evaluate the quality of the evidence. Due to the constraints of entries 2, 4, and 7, AMSTAR-2 determined that the methodological quality of the included reviews was usually insufficient. The outcome of the measures through evidence of quality was insufficient because of bias risk and imprecision.

Many studies document the effective use of platelet-rich plasma in the treatment of venous ulcer patients. The efficacy of platelet-rich plasma appears to be supported by the data, despite this study also highlights a number of shortcomings. However, given the methodological shortcomings of the included systematic reviews and meta-analyses, these findings requires caution in interpretation.

Reference:

Shi, T., Hu, S., Hui, J., Ji, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2024). An overview of systematic reviews of clinical studies of platelet‐rich plasma for venous ulcers. In Wound Repair and Regeneration. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1111/wrr.13201