A clinical study of single intraneural platelet-rich plasma injection in peripheral nerve repair

Background: Peripheral nerve injuries cause great morbidity leaving many with long-term disabilities with high societal costs. Direct tension-free microsurgical repair and/or the transplantation of a nerve autograft to bridge the gap are the gold standard treatments. However, such treatments may not recreate the suitable cellular and molecular microenvironment and in some cases, the functional recovery of nerve injuries is incomplete. Aims and Objectives: The purpose of the study is to investigate if, and to what extent, PRP can improve the clinical condition after nerve repair. To study the effects and therapeutic potential of platelet rich plasma in traumatic nerve injury. Materials and Methods: A hospital based Non-Randomized control trial was conducted in a tertiary hospital setup in Manipur, India, for a period of 2 years. This study was done on 12 patients who underwent peripheral nerve repair. Materials and method The selected sample will be divided into two groups. Control group was treated with direct tension-free epineural microsurgical repair and the treatment group was treated with direct tension-free epineural microsurgical repair along with intraoperative infiltrating the nerve stumps perineurally and intraneurally with a single dose of autologous PRP injection. Comparison was done on the basis of subjective and objective outcomes between the groups over a period of 1 year. Statistical analysis Statistical analysis was done by using IBM SPSS Version 21 for windows. Descriptive statistics such as mean, proportion, percentage were used to present the result. Chi square test was used to see the association of proportions. Student's t- test and repeated ANOVA were used for the continuous variables. P-value <0.05 was taken as significant. Results: A total of 12 patients were included in the study, who were divided into 2 groups i.e., Case group and Control group, with 6 patients in each. The two groups were comparable with regards to patient characteristics, nerve injured and time interval to surgery. The patients in the case group, had significant improved outcome, when compare to control group, in terms of subjective (quickDASH) and objective tests (2-point discrimination, sensory recovery, motor strength and nerve conduction studies). Conclusion: In this study we found that intraoperative PRP injection can improve the clinical outcome after nerve repair in traumatic nerve injury.