title: Treatment of osteochondral injuries with platelet gel.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Treatments for injured articular cartilage have not advanced to the point that efficient regeneration is possible. However, there has been an increase in the use of platelet-rich plasma for the treatment of several orthopedic disorders, including chondral injuries. Our hypothesis is that the treatment of chondral injuries with platelet gel results in higher-quality repair tissue after 180 days compared with chondral injuries not treated with gel.
  
  
  METHODS
  A controlled experimental laboratory study was performed on 30 male rabbits to evaluate osteochondral injury repair after treatment with or without platelet gel. Osteochondral injuries were surgically induced in both knees of each rabbit at the medial femoral condyle. The left knee injury was filled with the platelet gel, and the right knee was not treated. Microscopic analysis of both knee samples was performed after 180 days using a histological grading scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The only histological evaluation criterion that was not significantly different between treatments was metachromasia. The group that was treated with platelet gel exhibited superior results in all other criteria (cell morphology, surface regularity, chondral thickness and repair tissue integration) and in the total score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The repair tissue was histologically superior after 180 days in the study group treated with platelet gel compared with the group of untreated injuries.
authors.affiliation: Private Clinic and Hospital, Uniort.e Ortopedia Especializada, Londrina, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcus Vinicius
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Danieli
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine of Botucatu, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Hamilton da Rosa
authors.initials: Hda R
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Private Clinic and Hospital, Uniort.e Ortopedia Especializada, Londrina, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carlos Augusto de Sá
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Carneiro
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biosciences, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sérgio Luiz
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Felisbino
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine of Botucatu, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elenice
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Deffune
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005782:Gels / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D053657:Platelet-Rich Plasma; D011817:Rabbits; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014945:Wound Healing
chemical_list: D005782:Gels