PRP Injections For Wound Healing
Platelet-Rich Plasma
Platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, is a small amount of plasma extracted from the patient’s blood and enriched with a concentrated source of platelets. Gathered by separating plasma from red and white blood cells, PRP is rich in growth factors and other specialized cells known as “cytokines” that have demonstrated tremendous potential to improve healing of soft tissue other wounds.
How Does PRP Improve Wound Healing?
Used to promote healing of musculoskeletal injuries and increase recovery time, PRP provides extremely concentrated platelet levels to increase the healing process. Platelets are the part of blood that helps the clotting process after injury. Every platelets are also very concentrated biochemical storehouses that contains
- Regulatory molecules,
- Signaling molecules, and
- Growth-factor molecules
All of these molecules are instrumental in the recovery and healing of cells and tissue.
PRP: Extreme Platelet Concentration
To better understand the platelets concentrated in PRP, consider the following: normal blood in consists of plasma that contains the following components:
Red Blood Cells 93%
White Blood Cells 1%
Platelets 6%
On the other hand, Plasma-Rich Platelets contains the following:
Red Blood Cells 5%
White Bloods Cells 1%
Platelets 94%
Where normal blood contains roughly 150,000-200,000 platelets/ml of plasma, PRP contains dense volume of 1,000,000/ml of plasma.
What Does Platelet Rich Plasma Help Heal?
Touted for its ability to improve recovery time and healing of ligaments, joints, muscles, and tissue, platelet-rich plasma has recently demonstrated evidence that it can also assist in the healing and recovery of several skin issues, including:
- Leg Ulcers (arterial and venous)
- Foot Ulcers (associated with diabetes)
- Bedsores
- Skin grafts
- First and second degree burns
- Cuts and abrasions, including chronic wounds found on the heal
- Healing from surgical incisions
- Treatment of facial wrinkles and rejuvenation of sun damage
- Cosmetic treatment and healing of scars
How Does Platelet-Rich Plasma Improve Wound Healing?
PRP releases growth factors into soft tissue; this process provides increased concentration of platelets that aid in tissue healing and recovery.
Specific growth-factor molecules found in PRP include:
- Epidermal growth factor (EGF)
- Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2)
- Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)
- Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)
- Transforming growth-factor-beta TGF-b)
- Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
Each of these specific growth factors aid the healing process by:
- Attracting undifferentiated stem cells and starting the cell division process.
- Preventing inflammation by suppressing the release of specific cell proteins improving healing of tissue by attracting white blood cells (sometimes called macrophages) TO assist regeneration of cells and improve tissue healing.
- Promoting formation of new blood cells and speeding up the healing of tissue (epithelialisation).
How Will Dr. Smith Gather My Platelet-Rich Plasma?
Plasma-rich plasma is a 100% analogous process, which means the it is created entirely from the patient’s own blood. Here is the process Dr. Smith uses:
- Blood is safely drawn from the patient’s arm..
- The blood is placed in a centrifuge.
- Centrifuging allows Dr. Smith to separate red and white blood cells from the plasma and platelets.
- Blood plasma rich with platelets is separated from the blood.
- An activating agent (e.g. calcium chloride) is added to activate the platelets and release their content prior to use.
- The super-concentrated PRP is then injected to the wound site, where the healing process starts immediately.
Is PRP Safe?
Yes. Platelets are the primary agents of the blood clotting system. The body activates platelets to assist with healing by forming blood clots to prevent blood loss and repair the injury.
Since PRP is an autologous preparation, it requires no special considerations regarding antibody formation, effectively preventing the risk of graft vs. host disease and leading to better acceptance by patients. in addition, autologously prepared PRP is free from concerns over transmittable diseases, including:
- HIV
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis C
Platelet-rich plasma is immunologically neutral and poses no threat of allergy, hypersensitivity or foreign-body reactions.