Exploring PRP for Shoulder Injuries
Partial-thickness rotator cuff tears are common shoulder injuries that can cause pain, weakness, and difficulty with everyday movement. These tears affect part of the rotator cuff tendon and may become more troublesome over time.
One regenerative approach being studied is platelet-rich plasma (PRP). PRP is prepared from a patient’s own blood and contains a concentrated amount of platelets, which release growth factors and other substances involved in the body’s natural healing response.
A 2024 systematic review examined randomized controlled trials to see how PRP injections affected shoulder function in people with partial-thickness rotator cuff tears.
Comparing Different PRP Approaches
Researchers reviewed eight randomized controlled trials involving 516 patients. The studies examined PRP injected into different areas of the shoulder:
- The glenohumeral joint
- The subacromial space
- Directly into the injured tendon
Patients were followed for at least two months, with some studies tracking results for as long as one year.
Although the researchers wanted to determine whether one injection location worked better than another, an encouraging overall pattern emerged: PRP was associated with improvements in shoulder function across the different injection locations studied.
Positive Changes in Shoulder Function
Several individual trials included in the review reported notable improvements following PRP treatment.
For example:
- One study involving PRP injected into the shoulder joint reported a 46.2% improvement in arm, shoulder, and hand function at 12 months.
- In one intratendinous study, shoulder pain and disability scores improved 66.1% at three months and 71.6% at six months following two PRP injections.
- Another study found greater improvement in shoulder scores at six months with PRP compared with a corticosteroid group.
Studies involving injections around the subacromial space also reported improvements over several months.
Overall, the review found that functional benefits were seen from approximately three months through 12 months after PRP treatment in the included studies.
Why PRP Is Being Studied for Tendon Health
Rotator cuff tears involve damage to tendon tissue, which can be challenging to heal because some areas of the tendon have a limited blood supply.
PRP is particularly interesting in regenerative medicine because platelets contain biological factors involved in healing and tissue repair. Researchers are studying whether concentrating these platelets and delivering them near an injured tendon may help create a more supportive environment for recovery.
The review noted that PRP has shown promising potential for influencing inflammation and supporting the regeneration of functional tissue.
What This Research Adds
One of the clearest takeaways from this review is that patients receiving PRP showed notable functional improvements regardless of where the injection was given.
Researchers could not identify one injection location as definitively superior because the eight trials used different PRP preparations, injection schedules, and methods for measuring outcomes.
Rather than taking away from the encouraging results, these differences highlight an important next step for research: determining how PRP can be standardized and optimized for people with partial rotator cuff tears.
A Promising Area of Regenerative Orthopedics
This systematic review adds to the growing clinical research surrounding PRP for orthopedic injuries.
Across eight randomized controlled trials, PRP treatment was associated with improved shoulder function in patients with partial-thickness rotator cuff tears, with benefits reported across several injection approaches and follow-up periods.
While researchers continue working to determine the ideal injection location, dose, and treatment schedule, these findings support continued investigation of PRP as a regenerative option for supporting shoulder and tendon recovery.
Source
Dakkak M, Saleem A, Patel D, Yeager M, Oliveira L, Gilot G, Spindler KP. A systematic review of randomized control trials looking at functional improvement of rotator cuff partial thickness tears following platelet-rich-plasma injection: a comparison of glenohumeral joint vs. subacromial bursa vs. intratendinous injection locations. JSES International. 2024;8(3):464–471. doi: 10.1016/j.jseint.2024.01.003. PMID: 38707549; PMCID: PMC11064684. Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11064684/