Healing Tendonitis With Blood

PALO ALTO, Calif. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- When tendons degenerate in the knee or elbow, both conditions known as Tennis Elbow, patients often shrug off symptoms. But sometimes the problem becomes so severe they need surgery. Now, doctors are experimenting with a breakthrough treatment instead -- and all it takes is a patient's own blood.

Army Captain Michael Mai trains six days a week, six hours a day. That's what it will take for the world-class hammer thrower to get to the Beijing Olympics in 2008. "The ultimate goal is to, of course, win the gold medal," he says. But intense training can come at a price. Two years ago, Cpt. Mai was throwing his hammer on a half-torn knee tendon.

"Since I could not afford that kind of time off, I just had to kind of work through the pain," he says.

Enter Stanford University Orthopedic Surgeon Allan Mishra, M.D. He suggested Cpt. Mai undergo surgery and an experimental treatment Dr. Mishra is testing on patients with chronic tendonitis.

"It is extraordinarily straightforward. It's not complex," Dr. Mishra tells Ivanhoe. "I don't want to call it rocket science or brain surgery."

In the new, simple procedure, Dr. Mishra first draws a patient's blood. Then, he separates the platelet rich plasma, or PRP, which is rich in growth factors that help tendons heal. The PRP is injected back into the patient.

"It's amazing that your body has an amazing ability to heal itself," Dr. Mishra says, "and all we are doing here is concentrating that ability and getting it back to an area where you are having a problem." In his pilot study on tennis elbow, it worked as well as surgery -- and may even prove to be better.

For patients, it's a simple alternative that's less costly and virtually risk-free.

Dr. Mishra says Cpt. Mai may have recovered just as well with the PRP only, but they did surgery as an extra precaution. Doctors are now experimenting with it to see if it could help heart attack patients strengthen heart muscle. And doctors want to see if PRP could be an alternative to stem cell transplants or an enhancement to them. For now, Dr. Mishra says PRP is best for patients with chronic tendonitis.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Alan Mishra, M.D.
Menlo Medical Clinic
1300 Crane St.
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 498 6645

Platelet Rich Plasma Research Website