The role of platelet gel in osteoarticular injuries of young and old patients.

Background: The use of autologous platelet gel in orthopedics is effective in accelerating the healing process ofosteochondral, muscle, tendon and ligament lesions. The aim of our study was to verify whether the variability inresponse to infiltration with platelet gel was dependent on the underlying disease treated, sex and age of thepatients. During four years, 140 patients have been treated for musculoskeletal injuries by infiltration of gel plateletand lysate platelet obtained from autologous thrombin, with echo-ultrasound guided. The response to treatmentwas assessed at different time points T0, T1, T2 with respect to pain estimation (VAS), joint mobility (ROM scale) andecho-ultrasound evaluation. This data collection has allowed classifying the response to treated lesions in threecategories: NR (no response), PR (partial response), CR (complete response).Results: The data here reported showed that the ability to physical recovery response is evident in tendon injuries,while the large joints injuries gave a poor response. Almost all patients showed a significant pain relief after the firstinfiltration, but in terms of echo-ultrasound evaluation and tissue repair, only the muscle and tendon injuriesshowed hyperechoic areas, signs or evidences of repair. Concerning the correlation between response to infiltrationwith platelet gel and gender/age of the patients, the clinical results appear not influenced by the age and thegender of the patient.Discussion: Our data indicate that, pain relief and ability to physical recovery of muscles, tendons and ligamentsdepend on tissue repair clearly visible by echo ultrasound evaluation. On the other hand tissue repair seems notoccur in the large joints (hip and knee) where arthritis and /or corrosion of articular cartilage cannot be repairedand the only relief is exclusively linked to the reduction of periarticular inflammation (reduction of the inflammatoryleakage and signs).