Clinical study of platelet-rich plasma combined with sodium hyaluronate injection in treating knee osteoarthritis

Quan Xu^1,2, Yu Pan^1*, Shuo Li¹, Fei Yang¹, Di Ma¹, Shen-Min Su¹, Li-Chun Zhang¹, Jia-Bao Feng¹, Meng-Long Deng¹

¹Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital,School of Clinical Medicine,Tsinghua University,Department of Rehabilitation Medicine,Beijing 102218, China - ²Division of Intelligent and Biomimetic Machinery, State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

Objective: To explore the efficacy of platelet-rich plasma combined with sodium hyaluronate (PRP-SH) in treating knee osteoarthritis.

Methods: Patients were randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group (EXP) was treated with PRP-SH, and the control group (CON) was treated with sodium hyaluronate only (SH). The knee joint pain, muscle strength, and functional status were evaluated before and after treatment.

Results: (1) There was no significant difference in knee joint evaluation between the two groups before treatment (P>0.05). After treatment, the VAS scores and the WOMAC scores of the two groups were significantly lower than those before treatment (P<0.05). The peak torque of the quadriceps femoris was significantly increased than that before treatment (P<0.05). (2) After treatment, the VAS score and WOMAC score of group EXP were significantly lower than those of group CON (P<0.05), and the peak torque of the quadriceps femoris was significantly higher than group CON (P<0.05).

Conclusions: Both treatments can improve the pain caused by knee osteoarthritis and improve muscle strength and knee joint function. The effects of PRP-SH are better than SH alone.