Monday, December 7, 2009

Ultrasound's Importance in Measuring Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy Results

In a European PRP study using horses as test subjects, utilizing ultrasound to measure healing levels proved to be very useful. Ultrasound uncovered the improvement in tissue alignment during healing with PRP as opposed to placebo. Ultrasound also confined the healing course is more efficient using PRP (Bosch et al).

Excerpt from Study:

"The effectiveness of new therapies to treat tendon injuries is difficult to determine and is often based on semi-quantitative methods, such as grey level analysis of ultrasonographic images or subjective pain scores. The alternatives are costly and long-lasting end-stage studies using experimental animals. In this study, a method of ultrasonographic tissue characterisation (UTC), using mathematical analysis of contiguous transverse ultrasonographic images, was used for intra-vital monitoring of the healing trajectory of standardised tendon lesions treated with platelet rich plasma (PRP) or placebo. Using UTC it was possible to detect significant differences between the groups in the various phases of repair. At end stage, over 80% of pixels showed correct alignment in the PRP group, compared with just over 60% in the placebo group (P<0.05). UTC also showed significant differences in the course of the healing process between PRP treated and placebo treated animals throughout the experiment. It was concluded that computerised analysis of ultrasonographic images is an excellent tool for objective longitudinal monitoring of the effects of treatments for superficial digital flexor tendon lesions in horses."



Researchers: Bosch G, René van Weeren P, Barneveld A, van Schie HT.

Article Title: "Computerised analysis of standardised ultrasonographic images to monitor the repair of surgically created core lesions in equine superficial digital flexor tendons following treatment with intratendinous platelet rich plasma or placebo"

Location and Publisher: Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Date Published: 2009, Nov 19

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