PRP: Platelet Rich Plasma
Platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) can be used for the treatment of joints, bursae and soft tissue injuries.
Platelets are a component of blood that are capable of releasing many growth factors such as platelet-derived growth factor, transforming growth factor beta and vascular endothelial growth factor. These growth factors are important for regulating a huge number of cellular processes that encourage the formation of blood vessels and the proliferation of new tissue.
PRP is very quick to obtain from your horse and can be ready to inject in as little as 15-30 minutes, depending on the method used. We take approximately 50mls of blood from your horse and centrifuge or filter it to concentrate the platelets to produce the PRP.
PRP is injected directly into the site of injury and works best where there discrete area of damage, such as a tendon core lesion. However, it has a wide array of uses including aiding the healing of joints, bursa and soft tissue injuries (such as suspensory ligament or flexor tendon strains).
PRP is able to act as a scaffold for proliferating cells which makes it a useful treatment prior to stem cell therapy.
Another great advantage to PRP is that it can be legally used in competition horses where drug testing would detect commonly used controlled substances.
For more information on PRP, please telephone your vet or call the office on 01306 627 706 to discuss.
