Biomechanical study of the effect of platelet rich plasma on the treatment of medial collateral ligament lesion in rabbits.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the use of platelet-rich plasma in the early stages of healing of traumatic injury of the medial collateral ligament in the knee of rabbits.

METHODS

Thirty rabbits were subjected to surgical lesion of the medial collateral ligament. Of these, 16 were treated with platelet-rich plasma and 14 with saline (control). After 3 and 6 weeks of treatment, 50% of the animals from each group were sacrificed, and biomechanical tests were performed on the injured ligament to compare the tensile strength between the two groups.

RESULTS

Platelet-rich plasma significantly increased the tensile strength of the ligament in the groups treated after3 and 6 weeks. In the group treated with platelet-rich plasma vs. saline, the tensile strength values were 3192.5 ± 189.7 g/f vs. 2851.1 ± 193.1 g/f at3 weeks (p = 0.005) and 5915.6 ± 832.0 g/f vs. 4187.6 ± 512.9 g/f at 6 weeks (p = 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

The use of platelet-rich plasma at the injury site accelerated ligament healing in an animal model, demonstrated by an increase in the tensile strength of the medial collateral ligament.