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. 2019 Jun;16(3):788-792.
doi: 10.1111/iwj.13098. Epub 2019 Mar 12.

Autologous platelet-rich plasma for healing chronic venous leg ulcers: Clinical efficacy and potential mechanisms

Carolina D Weller  1 , Elizabeth E Gardiner  2 , Jane F Arthur  3 , Melissa Southey  4   5   6 , Robert K Andrews  3
Affiliations

Autologous platelet-rich plasma for healing chronic venous leg ulcers: Clinical efficacy and potential mechanisms

Carolina D Weller et al. Int Wound J. 2019 Jun.

Abstract

The overall quality of evidence of autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for treating chronic wounds remains low. While further well-designed clinical studies are clearly required to convincingly demonstrate the efficacy of autologous PRP in improved healing of venous leg ulcers (VLUs) and other chronic wounds, there is also an increasing need to better define the underlying mechanisms of action and whether positive outcomes can be predicted based on the analysis of PRP. This brief review will discuss the current understanding of autologous PRP in VLUs and whether molecular evaluation of PRP at the time of collection could potentially be informative to clinical outcomes. Benefits of the autologous PRP treatment strategy include that PRP is easily accessible and is relatively inexpensive and safe. Better understanding of the mechanisms involved could improve treatment, enable supplementation, and/or lead to gains in product development. Analysis of PRP could also add value to future clinical trials on efficacy and potentially personalised treatment regimens.

Keywords: platelet glycoproteins; platelet physiology; wound healing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. There are no relevant funding sources to declare.

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