Autologous blood products in musculoskeletal medicine

I'd love to see a cogent argument for how PRP or other 'therapies' are supposed to promote healing. Who believes that a magic potion of 'factors' 'jump starts healing' (quote one major US medical centre website). It is well recognised that tissue healing requires an accurate balance of certain proteins (including cytokines and growth factors). The 'factor' composition of autologous blook and PRP is not known. The doses of 'factors' required for tissue healing are likely to differ at various stages after injury.

As Professor Maffulli states in his editorial, there are major commercial interests at play. At present there is no biological rationale, or high quality clinical evidence to support injecting PRP or autologous blood as tendinopathy treatment.

There are systematic reviews that support the role of exercise therapy for tendinopathy and the biological rationale is well established. http://tiny.cc/alhcxw