Clinical Safety and Efficacy of Platelet-Rich Plasma in Wound Healing

Background: Platelet-rich plasma has been extensively used in several clinical settings. However, there still a lack of conclusive evidence concerning the benefits of platelet-rich plasma in the field of wound healing. We aimed to evaluate the safety and the efficacy of autologous platelet-rich plasma in acute wound healing. Methods: This prospective study enrolled forty adult patients of both sexes and aged between 18 - 50 years. All patients in need for split-thickness skin graft were included in our study. The donor sites were randomly divided into two equal halves: the platelet-rich plasma side, which was injected with recently activated platelet-rich plasma; and the control side, in which the conventional method of dressing was used. Measurement of the platelet count and transforming growth factor-B1 concentration in each platelet-rich plasma preparation and the whole blood was done for all patients. Clinical monitoring of the donor sites was done every 7 days for 3 weeks, regarding pain perception, epithelialization surface area and possible side effects of the platelet-rich plasma. Histopathological monitoring was done on the 7th postoperative day. Results: The platelet count was increased about 3.5 folds and transforming growth factor-B1 was increased 2.4 folds in the platelet-rich plasma compared to the patients’ blood. The platelet-rich plasma side had significantly lower pain scores at day 7 (4.8 ± 0.18 vs 5.9 ± 0.07) and day 14 (1.4 ± 0.11 vs 1.9 ± 0.09) postoperative (p = 0.002 and p = 0.004, respectively) and had significantly higher rate of epithelialization at day 7 (9.8 ± 0.35 cm² vs 7.5 ± 0.32 cm²) and day 14 (38.4 ± 0.36 cm² vs 36.9 ± 0.42 cm²) postoperative (p < 0.001 and p = 0.039, respectively), while at day 21 postoperative, there was no significant difference between both sides. There was no significant difference between both sides regarding the incidence of complications. The platelet-rich plasma side showed intact epithelium, differentiation of the cells in stratum spongiosum and stratum granulosum, neovascularization and earlier collagen deposition. Conclusion: The platelet-rich plasma is safe and effective adjuvant in the management of acute wounds. However, we recommend for larger clinical trials for standardized method for PRP preparation and better understanding of the efficacy of this blood product.