medwireNews: Findings from the PRIMA trial suggest no benefit of intra-articular platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections for people with ankle osteoarthritis.
As reported in JAMA, the mean American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score improved from 63 points at baseline to 73 points at week 26 among the 48 participants who were randomly assigned to receive two ultrasonography-guided PRP injections. The AOFAS score ranges from 1 to 100 points, with higher scores indicating less pain and better function.
Similarly, the average score improved from 64 to 75 points among the 52 given placebo, translating into a nonsignificant adjusted between-group difference of 1 point favoring placebo.
There were also no significant differences between the study arms for any secondary outcomes, including measures of pain and physical function.
“The results of this study do not support the use of PRP injections for ankle osteoarthritis,” in contrast to the potential benefits reported previously for knee osteoarthritis, say Liam Paget (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands) and co-investigators.
They note that one serious adverse event occurred during the study, namely a transient ischemic attack considered unrelated to treatment in the placebo arm, and there were no reports of infection or intra-articular hematoma caused by intra-articular injections.
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