ArticleCureus2025
Short-Term Clinical Outcomes of Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy in Patellofemoral Chondromalacia: Evaluating Pain Reduction and Functional Improvement in a Six-Month Retrospective Study.
Article in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPatellofemoral chondromalacia is a degenerative condition of the knee cartilage, leading to significant pain and functional impairment. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy has emerged as a promising treatment, leveraging its regenerative and anti-inflammatory properties. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of PRP in reducing pain and improving knee function in patients with patellofemoral chondromalacia at the six-month follow-up. METHODOLOGY: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at Almoosa Specialist Hospital in Al-Ahsa, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Medical records of 103 patients diagnosed with patellofemoral chondromalacia and treated with PRP were reviewed. Patients aged 18 years or older, diagnosed through clinical examination and imaging, and with a six-month follow-up were included. Data were collected on demographics, symptom duration, Outerbridge grade, and pre- and post-treatment scores on the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Anterior Knee Pain Scale (AKPS). Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States).
resultsThe mean age of participants was 32.86±9.54 years. A total of 80 out of 103 participants (77.7%) were male. PRP treatment significantly reduced VAS scores from 6.42±2.52 to 1.19±1.73 (p<0.001) and improved AKPS scores from 81.17±11.71 to 89.96±7.21 (p<0.001) after six months. While 98.1% of patients showed improvement in VAS scores, 99% demonstrated enhanced AKPS scores. Age significantly influenced outcomes, with older patients showing greater functional improvement. However, the Outerbridge grade remained unchanged across the follow-up period.
conclusionPRP injections were associated with a significant reduction in pain and improvement in knee function in patients with patellofemoral chondromalacia, particularly in middle-aged and older populations. Despite significant symptomatic relief, no structural changes in cartilage were observed over six months, as the Outerbridge grade remained unchanged in all patients (mean 2.30±0.79 before and after treatment; p=1.000). These findings support further investigation into the use of PRP as a non-surgical treatment option, warranting additional research to assess its long-term effects and comparative efficacy.
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.