Platelet rich plasma injections for lateral epicondylitis of the elbow reduce the need for surgical intervention.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to assess the effectiveness of PRP injections in lateral epicondylitis of the elbow as it was felt after PRP introduction the numbers of patients requiring surgery for had reduced.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective review of cases from the 1 January 2008 to 31st December 2015. The numbers of patients undergoing surgical release and the numbers of patients requiring PRP injections were recorded each year and the numbers of patients requiring surgery was compared pre and post PRP injection to ascertain if PRP introduction reduced surgical intervention.

RESULTS

Prior to PRP, a yearly mean of 12.75 patients underwent surgery, since PRP this reduced to 4.25 patients, P < 0.001. This leads to an absolute risk reduction of 0.773 and number needed to treat of 1.3. PRP injection successfully reduced symptoms in 56/64 (87.5%) patients in our study.

CONCLUSION

We consider PRP injection, for intractable lateral epicondylitis of the elbow, not only a safe but also very effective tool in reducing symptoms and have shown it has reduced the need for surgical intervention in this difficult cohort of patients.