PRP Treatment Now Available

A number of new studies have been published discussing the role of Platelet-Rich Plasma in treating patients with degenerative arthritis of the knee. Platelets are found in our blood and are responsible for blood clotting to prevent excessive bleeding. Platelets are also sources of cytokines, which regulate healing and tissue regeneration in the body. The theory of Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy is the hope that if a concentrated amount of our own platelets are injected into the knee that it may lead to a healing of the degenerative changes which have occurred in the knee. In essence, it is a process of healing damaged cartilage in the knee.

The surfaces of our bones are lined by a smooth, glistening surface called articular cartilage which allows the bones to glide over each other. The loss of the articular cartilage allows bone to be exposed and the bone on bone grinding causes pain, swelling and stiffness in the knee. This is called degenerative arthritis.

We have been treating a number of patients with PRP in the office with exciting success at short term follow up. The process is done in the office and starts with the patient having a small amount of blood drawn by our staff. The blood is prepared by a special process which concentrates the platelets and other growth factors into a syringe. The “super-healing” concentrate (PRP) is then injected into the knee.

Recent studies in the American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and The American Journal of Sports Medicine have indicated that PRP can be helpful in treating degenerative arthritis.
We are all committed at The Los Angeles Orthopaedic Institute to making our patients’ knees younger and, hopefully, avoiding surgery. Please contact us if you have knee pain and wish to discuss the new non-operative techniques which are now available.

Stay Healthy,
Dr. Sisto

What Is “PRP”?

Kobe Bryant has just traveled to Germany to have a “PRP” injection and everyone wants to know what this is about. PRP stands for Platelet Rich Plasma which is a new injectible, non-surgical technique to stimulate healing of chronic soft-tissue injuries of the knee, shoulder, elbow and ankle joints. The technique is perfomed in thw office and a small amount of blood is taken from the patient and this is placed in a special machine which concentrates the “healing portion” of the blood into a concentrated healing “super fluid.” It is than injected into the patient’s joint under ultrasonic visualization.
  The early results for lateral epicondylitis (Tennis elobw), patellar tendonitis (Jumping knee) and rotator cuff tendonitis have been great. We are the team physicians for Cal-State Northridge (CSUN) and have performed PRP successfully for these problems. The role of PRP in the treatment of degenerative arthritis (Kobe’s diagnosis) is very controversial and is unknown at this time.
  Schedule an appointment if you have a chronic soft-tissue injury or degenerative arthritis and we can discuss whether PRP is an option for you.

Stay young!
Dr. Sisto