Blood doping at the Super Bowl? Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy for the Steelers

Pro cyclists know all about blood doping.  Pro football fans -- and players -- are about to attend a crash course in the technique...sorta.

The New York Times discusses a technique of injury recovery known as 'platelet rich plasma therapy' (PRPT).  Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu used the procedure to recover from injuries.  So how is this medical technique different from outlawed blood doping?

Two of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ biggest stars, Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu, used their own blood in an innovative injury treatment before winning the Super Bowl. At least one major league pitcher, about 20 professional soccer players and perhaps hundreds of recreational athletes have also undergone the procedure, commonly called platelet-rich plasma therapy.

Experts in sports medicine say that if the technique’s early promise is fulfilled, it could eventually improve the treatment of stubborn injuries like tennis elbow and knee tendinitis for athletes of all types.

The method, which is strikingly straightforward and easy to perform, centers on injecting portions of a patient’s blood directly into the injured area, which catalyzes the body’s instincts to repair muscle, bone and other tissue. Most enticing, many doctors said, is that the technique appears to help regenerate ligament and tendon fibers, which could shorten rehabilitation time and possibly obviate surgery.

More of the dope on PRPT after the jump..

The technique is not exactly blood doping.  Blood doping would involve withdrawing then saving the athlete's blood, followed by re-infusing portions back into the blood stream during competitive stress.   This technique is injecting blood into an injured area to promote healing.  More:

“It’s a better option for problems that don’t have a great solution — it’s nonsurgical and uses the body’s own cells to help it heal,” said Dr. Allan Mishra, an assistant professor of orthopedics at Stanford University Medical Center and one of the primary researchers in the field. “I think it’s fair to say that platelet-rich plasma has the potential to revolutionize not just sports medicine but all of orthopedics. It needs a lot more study, but we are obligated to pursue this.”

Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ team physician, used platelet-rich plasma therapy in July on a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in the throwing elbow of pitcher Takashi Saito. Surgery would have ended Mr. Saito’s season and shelved him for about 10 to 14 months; he instead returned to pitch in the September pennant race without pain.

However the technique is not 100% effective in all athletes:

Dr. ElAttrache said he could not be certain that the procedure caused the pitcher’s recovery — about 25 percent of such cases heal on their own, he said — but it was another encouraging sign for the nascent technique, which doctors in the field said could help not just injuries to professional athletes but the tendinitis and similar ailments found in the general population.

“For the last several decades, we’ve been working on the mechanical effects of healing — the strongest suture constructs, can we put strong anchors in?” Dr. ElAttrache said. “But we’ve never been able to modulate the biology of healing. This is addressing that issue. It deserves a lot more study before we can say that it works with proper definitiveness. The word I would use is promising.”

How is the technique adminstrered by sports physicians?

Platelet-rich plasma is derived by placing a small amount of the patient’s blood in a filtration system or centrifuge that rotates at high speed, separating red blood cells from the platelets that release proteins and other particles involved in the body’s self-healing process, doctors said. A teaspoon or two of the remaining substance is then injected into the damaged area. The high concentration of platelets — from 3 to 10 times that of normal blood — often catalyzes the growth of new soft-tissue or bone cells. Because the substance is injected where blood would rarely go otherwise, it can deliver the healing instincts of platelets without triggering the clotting response for which platelets are typically known.

“This could be a method to stimulate wound healing in areas that are not well-vascularized, like ligaments and tendons,” said Dr. Gerjo van Osch, a researcher in the department of orthopedics at Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands. “I call it a growth-factor cocktail — that’s how I explain it.”

Dr. van Osch and several other experts said they had used the procedure as a first option before surgery for reasons beyond its early results. There is little chance for rejection or allergic reaction because the substance is autologous, meaning it comes from the patient’s own body; the injection carries far less chance for infection than an incision and leaves no scar, and it takes only about 20 minutes, with a considerably shorter recovery time than after surgery.

The remainder of the Times piece present more information about the technique...worth reading.

Comments

[Adam Smith]

A teaspoon or two of the remaining substance is then injected into the damaged area.It deserves a lot more study before we can say that it works with proper definitiveness.

[lana]

If you want PRP therapy in New York, call
718-544-1444
or 845-425-7997
Doctor located in NY and is experienced.

Lana

[Michael Rosteck]

Platelet gel works great for any tissue that needs to be heeled. I've been making platelet gel for over six years for heart, plastic, and orthopedic applications. Even used it on wife's incision on 3rd time C-section.

[Brendon Clarke]

This is just the most recent adjunct to PROLO THERAPY. I've been using prolo for years and it works great. You can also add B vitamins, your own plasma, HGH or a host of other things to dramatically increase localized healing.

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