Growth factors (P.R.P)

Aυξητικοί παράγοντες (P.R.P)

Autologous growth factors from activated platelets (P.R.P) in the treatment of various orthopedic problems

Growth factors (P.R.P)Autologous activated platelets (P.R.P) are essentially a by-product of our blood, rich in platelets. They are extracellular proteins that, through biochemical stimuli in the wound environment, recruit cells and proteins to the wound to initiate the healing process.

Growth factors (P.R.P)

Their injection into the human body has proven benefits, especially in wound healing, as it causes:

Chemotaxis (Cell Movement) Mitogenesis (Cell Division) Differentiation (Epitic Cells) and Protection (Antimicrobial Function) This knowledge is not new. It has been used for many years in a hospital environment only, due to the high cost of isolating platelets from whole blood as well as the large quantity required to prepare a sufficient quantity of them.

The advent of new technology now allows the clinician to prepare sufficient quantities of these, on an outpatient basis, without hospitalization, using, safely, only 10-20ml of blood, which usually comes from a peripheral vein.

During the healing process, our body directs a large number and several types of cells to the area of the injection, with the aim of accelerating it. One of these types of cells is platelets. Activated platelets allow our body to use a normal pathway of healthy reaction of the human body, at accelerated rates.

Platelets perform various functions, including the formation of a clot at the site of injury, as well as the release of growth factors (GF) to the sick, arthritic or injured areas of our body.

The function of these factors is to help our body repair itself by activating adult stem cells, which in turn transform into mature cells of the tissue to be repaired.

The greater the amount of growth factors injected into the affected area, the more adult stem cells are activated and the faster the healing process. In this way, the usefulness of the method in tendons and joints is evident, with the aim of improving pain and mobility in patients with osteoarthritis or in those who have suffered sports injuries.

Today, the method is more widely accepted in large centers abroad and is used successfully in arthritis of the knee, shoulder, spine, hip, ankle, wrist and elbow, as well as in tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, elbow epicondylitis, Achilles tendonitis, muscle strains in athletes, shoulder rotator cuff tears, as well as for the treatment of weak ulcers from diabetes mellitus and skin necrosis, following a special treatment and rehabilitation protocol according to the philosophy of Bioorthopaedics.