Pradeep has more than 15 years of clinical and research experience in orthopedics in both UK and India

Kokila Patel, a 70 year-old woman from Ahemdabad came with a problem of pain in both her knees and one foot. She was slightly over weight and had osteoarthritis in her knees and arthritis in one foot. The septuagenarian could barely walk on her own, and if at all she did was with the support of a walking stick.

After trying all the medical aids and treatments including, a knee cap, painkillers, and various physiotherapy exercises, Kokila came approached doctors for an alternate treatment as she was reluctant to go ahead with a knee replacement surgery. "Looking at her condition, and keeping her apprehensions in mind Dr. Pradeep Moonot, suggested her PRP(platelet rich plasma) injection, which is a biological injection unlike the synthetic ones. And within six weeks of injection Kokila noticed a significant relief to an extent that she could now walk around without any support. With the result her need for pain killers was reduced and she completely forgot about her knee pain. And the best part is that the

patient is usually discharged within 2-3 hours only.

But what exactly is PRP Treatment?
"PRP is produced from a patient’s blood and it delivers a high concentration of growth factors to arthritic cartilage which can potentially enhance healing. It's a simple process where we take a patient's blood, and spin it down, concentrate the platelets and inject it back into their knee with their own platelets in a concentrated form. This then activates growth factors and stem cells to help repair the tissue if possible calm osteoarthritic symptoms and decrease inflammation."

PRP is produced from a patient’s blood and it delivers a high concentration of growth factors to arthritic cartilage which can potentially enhance healing

Treatment with PRP is useful in improving pain, stiffness, and function. Various studies show that in at least 73 per cent of cases, there is no progression of arthritis for at least one year. "Now it been almost 7 months that we injected Kokila Patel, the pain is not troubling her any more. Since it is a biological injection like mentioned earlier, so it's impact may vary from patient to patient. It is usually expected to benefit for a year but it could be less or it could be more. That's why we call it a chance injection as its chances of success are 50-50.

The treatment is beneficial for any age group as they have no side effects. "The only thing with PRP injection is they start showing results only after 6 weeks so the patient should not come with an intention of immediate results. And the best part is the injection costs about one tenth the cost of a knee replacement surgery."

There are no significant complications or downside to this treatment. "Though there are no precautions to be taken after PRP injections, still it's advisable to get the treatment at the earlier stage of arthritis to reap maximum and long term benefits.