Platelet-Rich Plasma Augmentation to Microfracture Provides a Limited Benefit for the Treatment of Cartilage Lesions: A Meta-analysis

Relatively higher-quality human studies compared with other topics in this database, e.g. multiple RCTs or systematic reviews. This does not mean it is standard or approved care.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Background Microfracture is the most common first-line option for the treatment of small chondral lesions, although increasing evidence shows that the clinical benefit of microfracture decreases over time. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been suggested as an effective biological augmentation to improve clinical outcomes after microfracture. Purpose To evaluate the clinical evidence regarding the application of PRP, documenting safety and efficacy of this augmentation technique to improve microfracture for the treatment of cartilage lesions. Study design Systematic review; Level of evidence, 3. Methods A systematic review was performed in PubMed, EBSCOhost database, and the Cochrane Library to identify comparative studies evaluating the clinical efficacy of PRP augmentation to microfracture. A meta-analysis was performed on articles that reported results for visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), and American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scores. Risk of bias was documented through use of the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias 2.0 and Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Interventions assessment tools. The quality assessment was performed according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation guidelines. Results A total of 7 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the me

Evidence level

Relatively higher-quality human studies compared with other topics in this database, e.g. multiple RCTs or systematic reviews. This does not mean it is standard or approved care.

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