PRP injection could be an alternative treatment for lateral epicondylitis: Study

USA: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections may be a suitable alternative treatment to lateral epicondylar surgery for patients with lateral epicondylitis (LE), finds a recent study in the journal Arthroscopy.

According to the study, PRP injections offered similar improvements in pain and function in comparison to lateral epicondylar surgery in such patients, especially in the short and mid-term in two of the three included investigations. 

Richard Hardy, Ed.D., LAT, Alexandria, MN, and colleagues aimed to determine if PRP injection for lateral epicondylitis offers patients comparable outcomes to lateral epicondylar surgery. 

For this purpose, the researchers searched the online databases and included studies that compared PRP injections to lateral epicondylar surgery for the treatment of LE, be of level I, II, or III evidence. They compared pain relief, function between the two treatment options, and identified if PRP injection reduced the incidence of lateral epicondylar surgery. 

Three studies (one level II and two level II) met inclusion criteria. 

Two of the studies suggested that PRP injections offer similar relief as surgery in the short and mid-term, one study reported that PRP injections and surgery had similar outcomes in pain improvement and return to work, while one study reported that surgery may be a better long term solution. 

"In comparison to lateral epicondylar surgery, PRP injections offer similar improvements in pain and function for patients suffering from lateral epicondylitis, especially in the short and mid-term in two of the three included investigations. "Therefore, PRP injections are an appropriate alternative for the treatment of lateral epicondylitis."

Reference:

The study titled, "To improve pain and function, platelet-rich plasma injections may be an alternative to surgery for treating lateral epicondylitis: A systematic review," is published in the journal Arthroscopy.

DOI: https://www.arthroscopyjournal.org/article/S0749-8063(21)00435-7/fulltext