Plasma Rich Platelets

[Suwannee Dave]

I am 76 years old and have been diagnosed with knee OA and a degenerative meniscus tear in my left knee. Do you have any knowledge of the effectiveness of PRP injections into the knee for these conditions? I am trying to postpone a total knee replacement but if that is the ultimate result I would rather get it sooner instead of later. Of course I would rather not get one at all.

[Mark Rippetoe]

How long do you plan to live?

[Suwannee Dave]

20 more years.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Just get the new knee. That's reliable technology.

[Leo M]

I know at least 15 people who have paid a lot of money out of their own pocket for PRP for knee osteoarthritis. Not one had any benefit. Most then had total knee replacements. The PRP company or companies haven't done any studies to show it helps. They market heavily to doctors.

[asm44]

I had PRP injections twice into my patellar tendons for patellar tendinopathy. It hurt and didn't help. Learning how to knees-back lowbar squat and getting pretty strong helped a lot. My knees feel a lot better at 32 than 16!

[Drew07]

I had PRP injections twice into my patellar tendons for patellar tendinopathy. It hurt and didn't help. Learning how to knees-back lowbar squat and getting pretty strong helped a lot. My knees feel a lot better at 32 than 16!

Just for reference, I also used the Starting Strength program to overcome tendonosis. Couldn't walk up and down the stairs at its worst, but got back to playing football (soccer).

[Will Morris]

I am 76 years old and have been diagnosed with knee OA and a degenerative meniscus tear in my left knee. Do you have any knowledge of the effectiveness of PRP injections into the knee for these conditions? I am trying to postpone a total knee replacement but if that is the ultimate result I would rather get it sooner instead of later. Of course I would rather not get one at all.

I have a lot of experience with PRP, both in the clinical setting and in the academic setting. The evidence to support the use of PRP is essentially neutral. There isn't a lot of strong evidence that it helps, but since it is derived from your own blood, it isn't likely to harm. That said, as someone mentioned earlier, PRP hurts, especially in superficial tissue. PRP is also breathtakingly expensive, and as a cash pay patient (most insurance won't cover PRP), you are going to come out of pocket thousands of dollars to get the full 3-6 injection series. With a positive outcome rate of about 98-99%, the TKA is a much better way to go. At 76, you have delayed all that is required, and then some. If you were 36, we might have a different recommendation.