What is this PRP Surprise guide for?

What to keep in mind before choosing care

A visit should begin with the sore area, not a treatment name. The provider checks movement, strength, swelling, and places that feel tender. Bring earlier X-rays and the names of your medicines. Explain which parts of the day now cause trouble.

General information can’t promise that PRP will ease soreness. It also can’t tell whether surgery, exercise, medicine, or another choice fits you. Ask why the exam led to each choice being offered. A useful answer should be clear enough to repeat at home.

The clinic connection is stated in the ownership notice on this site. That notice matters when you consider the clinic information here. You can compare the visit with advice from the doctor or nurse who knows you. Urgent warning signs need prompt medical care instead of a planned clinic visit.

Write down questions before any appointment because a sore joint can distract you. Keep the answers with your medicine notes and earlier X-rays. This guide won't replace care from someone who knows your health.

Sources

1. The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation convened a technical expert panel that ran a structured literature review (2023, updated through June 2025) and a modified Delphi process, and issued five evidence-based clinical recommendations plus 11 consensus-based best practices for PRP in knee osteoarthritis. The statement is explicit that orthobiologic therapies 'remain an evolving area of practice' and that robust, dose-dependent randomized controlled trials are still needed to establish PRP's clinical effects.

   Borg-Stein J, Jayaram P, Colorado BS, et al. — AAPM&R guidance statement on platelet rich plasma for knee osteoarthritis. PM&R, 2026. DOI: 10.1002/pmrj.70144.

2. A Bayesian network meta-analysis restricted to LARGE randomized trials (at least 100 patients per group; 57 trials, 22,795 participants, 18 intra-articular interventions) found treatment effects were larger in the 35 high-risk-of-bias trials than in the 22 low/unclear-risk trials. Excluding high-risk trials, the effects of 16 of the 18 intra-articular interventions in knee or hip OA were smaller than the minimal clinically important difference and most were consistent with placebo effects; triamcinolone had the highest probability of exceeding the MID at weeks 2-6.

   Pereira TV, Saadat P, Bobos P, et al. — Effectiveness and safety of intra-articular interventions for knee and hip osteoarthritis based on large randomized trials: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2024.08.014.

3. A scoping review of PRP for knee and hip osteoarthritis reported that PRP for knee OA gives clinically comparable or superior outcomes to other injection treatments, that the evidence in HIP osteoarthritis is far less consistent, and that evidence is lacking to show the presence of leukocytes significantly influences clinical outcomes. It named leukocyte concentration, OA grade and formulation comparability as the open questions.

   Tanguilig G, Dhillon J, Kraeutler MJ, et al. — Platelet-Rich Plasma for Knee and Hip Osteoarthritis Pain: A Scoping Review. Current Reviews in Musculoskeletal Medicine, 2024. DOI: 10.1007/s12178-024-09916-9.