Injections of Leukocyte-Reduced Platelet-Rich Plasma in Partial Tears of the Achilles Tendinopathy: A Report of Six Cases - Abstract
A conservative repair for a partial tear conformed in the tendinopathy-affected tendon is difficult, however, in 6 patients with Achilles tendinopathy the partial tears could be repaired by injections of an autologous leukocyte-reduced platelet-rich plasma (PRP). There were 4 men and 2 women with mean age of 64 years and mean disease duration of 7.3 months. High intensity areas in the Achilles tendons were observed in both short tau inversion recovery (STIR) images and T2* images of a magnetic resonance (MR) analysis. The PRP injections were performed for 1 to 3 times during 3 weeks depending on clinical recovery. All cases returned to sport activities at a previous level as without symptoms and the high intensity areas in MR images disappeared at 3 or 4 months after the PRP therapy. The outcomes indicated that PRP injections led to successful repair of partial tears conformed in the Achilles tendinopathy.