PRP is a relatively painless, low-risk procedure that uses your own blood to stimulate growth in injured tissues. Recent evidence suggests that PRP may be an effective treatment in managing pain associated with knee osteoarthritis. Traditional methods of managing knee pain caused by osteoarthritis (OA) include anti-inflammatories, physical therapy, cortisone injections, and surgery. In the past decade, researchers have examined whether injections of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) can be used to manage OA of the knee.
Growth factors are found in platelets in your blood. PRP operates under the theory that injecting growth factors from the blood into an injured area will cause new tissues to form. That is supposed to reduce inflammation in the tissue. When growth factors interact with local cells, they signal them to initiate cell division and migration. This promotes tissue formation.