DOI: 10.36347/sasjs

Pages: 42-46

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an autologous concentration of human platelets contained in a small volume of plasma characterized by haemostatic and tissue repairing effects. Tissue repairing effects and being enriched by various kind of growth factors, has made them the focus of attention for different procedures. The efficacy of certain growth factors in healing of non-healing leg ulcers and the concentration of these growth factors found within PRP are the theoretical basis of healing of leg ulcers. To study the efficacy of PRP for the treatment of non-healing leg ulcers, we selected ten patients of non healing leg ulcers for the study. A total of 10 patients with 14 ulcers were treated with PRP. Specialized investigations including X-ray of leg/foot, color doppler study were done where ever required. The nonhealing ulcers were first debrided to remove the infected and necrotic tissues. Size of the ulcers was noted prior to the start of the treatment. The duration of ulcer ranged from 1 month to 6 months with a mean of 15.4 weeks. The mean baseline platelet count of the patients was 2.4 lac per cubic mm and mean platelet count of the patients after PRP was 5.2 lac per cubic mm. The mean duration of the healing of the ulcers was in 7.2 weeks (SD 3.1). The baseline mean area of the ulcer was 12.24 cm2. The final area of the ulcer at the end of 8 weeks was 2.01 cm2. The mean percentage improvement in the area of the ulcer was 83.57%. As the use of PRP increases, additional studies may establish PRP as an efficacious treatment modality