Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)
Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) are gold standard research studies comparing interventions under controlled conditions. They provide robust evidence by randomly assigning participants to treatment or control groups, essential for assessing treatment effectiveness and informing clinical decisions.
Subscribe to the BlogMy 2024 PRP RCT Infographic 2.0
I blog about what comes my way as a practicing physician using orthobiologics and the medical director of Regenexx. In many ways, LinkedIn becomes my professional sounding board with other physician colleagues. This past week, I posted my 2024 PRP RCT infographic, which was very well received. However, one colleague pointed out that I should…read more
The Great California Worker’s Comp PRP Magic Trick
Worker’s comp is one of those insurance company types that, more often than not, has been covering PRP. However, a colleague recently sent a “Guideline” issued by the California workers comp that removes PRP coverage. Today, I want to dive deeply into this document and explain why it’s more of a magic trick than a…read more
Exosomes (Extracellular Vesicles) vs. PRP Used for Treating Orthopedic Problems
A few patients have been asking about using exosomes or extra-cellular vesicles to treat their aches and pains. As an expert in this space, knowing what I know about the research, this request doesn’t make sense. Hence, I wanted to educate everybody about this issue today. Let’s dig in. Facebook Hype Abounds The exosome hype…read more
2023 PRP RCT Infographic and Study Failure Analysis
Almost every year, I try to spend significant time diving into the literature on interventional orthobiologics and summarizing it. This helps me understand where we are in the evolution of the literature and hopefully provides some insight into what’s working and what’s not. This year I summarized the entire published literature on PRP injections for…read more
Disc Injections With Platelet Raisins and Protein Syrup
The last blog I published was on the mounting evidence for using PRP to treat the common causes of spinal pain. However, in that literature review, one study stood out. That research was abruptly halted at eight weeks, which was curious. As I sat down to read and analyze this paper in more detail, it…read more
Manipulating the Data to Get What You Want: The PRP Systematic Review by O’Dowd
In medicine, you can often break those that publish research into two categories. There are those who invest a huge amount of time and resources to study a clinical concept, whether in the lab or clinic, and then there are the “reviewers.” Today we’ll go over this duality by diving into how easy it is…read more
Is PRP Really as Good as MFat for Knee OA?
Two recent studies were published that seemed to show that platelet-rich plasma was as good as a common adipose tissue treatment to treat knee arthritis. However, anytime a study produces a result that goes against what we see clinically, it’s worth digging a bit into how they did the study. Both of these have some…read more
New Day New Large PRP Saline Control Study: a Comparison to Bennell et al
What’s amazing is that every month now, we’re seeing new Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) studies coming out. A new one is interesting as it’s larger than the new JAMA study that was reported to be the “last word” on PRP and Knee Arthritis. So let’s dive into that comparison this morning. The Benell et al and…read more