Platelet concentrate injection improves Achilles tendon repair in rats.
BACKGROUND
Blood platelets release a cocktail of growth factors when activated, some of which are thought to initiate and stimulate repair.
We studied whether a platelet concentrate injection would improve Achilles tendon repair in an established rat model. The Achilles tendon was transected and a 3 mm segment removed. After 6 h, a platelet concentrate was injected percutaneously into the hematoma. This increased tendon callus strength and stiffness by about 30% after 1 week, which persisted for as long as 3 weeks after the injection. At this time, the mechanical testing indicated an improvement in material characteristics--i.e., greater maturation of the tendon callus. This was confirmed by blinded histological scoring.


CONCLUSIONS
Platelet concentrate may prove useful for the treatment of Achilles tendon ruptures.
Aspenberg
Per
P
Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Department of Neuroscience and Locomotion, Faculty of Health Science, SE-581 85 Linköping, Sweden. per.aspenberg@inr.liu.se
Virchenko
Olena
O
D000125:Achilles Tendon / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D015552:Injections, Intralesional; D008297:Male; D017713:Platelet Transfusion / Q000379:methods*; D018583:Pliability; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012421:Rupture / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D013718:Tensile Strength / Q000502:physiology; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*