ArticleBMJ open sport & exercise medicine2022
Platelet-rich plasma injection for tennis elbow: did it ever work?
Article in BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- From past to future: bibliometric perspective of international research activity on lateral epicondylitis.Frontiers in surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Special Issue "Recent Progress in Regenerative Therapy Using Blood-Derived Biomaterials".International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Functional Outcomes of Leukocyte Poor Platelet-rich Plasma Injection in the Treatment of Lateral Epicondylitis of the Elbow.Annals of African medicine · 2026Observational
- Comparative Efficacy of Platelet-Rich Plasma, Corticosteroid, Hyaluronic Acid, and Placebo (Saline) Injections in Patients with Lateral Elbow Tendinopathy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Lateral and Medial Elbow Tendinopathy and Previous Injuries to Adjacent Joints: A Multicenter Observational Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- [Infiltration therapies for lateral epicondylopathy].Orthopadie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2023Review
- Polymorphic Variants of theJournal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a commonly used treatment for tendinopathies such as tennis elbow despite the questionable evidence of its efficacy. A recent Cochrane review suggests that it likely does not provide clinically meaningful benefits in people with tennis elbow. In this viewpoint, we discuss how lack of regulation allowed aggressive marketing and clinical use without normal phases of drug development and approval process or rigorous evidence of benefits. Since several phases of development were bypassed, we still do not know the optimal preparation method and dosing of PRP for tendinopathies. Furthermore, several clinical trials compared PRP with other interventions although it was unclear if PRP was better than placebo and these comparisons created distraction rather than improved understanding of its effects.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.