PRP for the treatment of Osteoarthritis

PRP is a promising therapy for knee OA patients who do not respond to conservative treatments. While the use around this therapy is increasing, it needs to be interpreted in light of a relatively low level of evidence. Therefore, the aim of this work is to carry out , using conservative parameters for PRP effectiveness, a cost effectiveness n economic evaluation analysis of the intra-articular (IA) use of the PRP therapy in the treatment for knee osteoarthritis for the United States. The study wants to give more insights to understand to determine if PRP if PRP can be a cost-effective therapy alternative for knee OA compared to hyaluronic acid, a widely utilized viscutilized viscousupplementation for knee OA . Methods: Using official and published data from the US health system, a Cost- Effectiveness Analysis (CEA) was performed. We conducted an economic evaluation using a decision tree analytic model comparing PRP and hyaluronic acid (HA). The effectiveness outcomes of reference was the WOMAC. They were mapped in terms of Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs). The time horizon is 1 year. Results PRP strategy has an ICER (incremental cost effectiveness ratio) of US$24,375 per QALY versus HA. Results of a probabilistic simulation showed that PRP has 70% probability to be cost-effective with respect to Hyaluronic AcidHA. The results give us economic insights on the use of PRP to treat patients not responding to conservative therapies in knee OA showing that PRP can be a cost effective therapy. This study echoes the necessity for increasing the research evaluating the PRP effectiveness in comparison with other conservative measures prior to total knee arthroplasty. More