Pain induced by platelet-rich plasma injections: reality or myth and short-medium term efficiency in a large...

The aim of our study was to assess pain during PRP injections and to evaluate correlations with pathology, anatomical location and needle size. The second goal was to evaluate the improvement in pain in the short and medium term.

Overall, 389 (195 males and 194 females) consecutive patients addressed for PRP injections were prospectively included. Pain during infiltration was evaluated using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Correlations with pathology, anatomical location and needle size were analyzed. Pain response was assessed in the short term, (10-15 days), and in the medium term (3 months).

A total of 215 patients suffered from tendinopathy and 174 from osteoarthritis. Median age was 47.7 years old for tendinopathy and 46.03 years old for osteoarthritis. During injections, a significant difference was noticed between the groups (Mann-Whitney: p=0.0124). But no significant influence of the needle size or the anatomical location on recorded pain during injection (p=0.222). Improvement of short-term or medium-term pain values compared with the day of injection was not significant (p=0.3992, p=0.1202 respectively).

Our study showed that PRP injections were associated with a higher level of pain in patients with tendinopathy than in those with arthritis, regardless of anatomical location or needle size. No improvement in pain was noticed in the short and medium term.