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OBJECTIVES: To conduct a pilot randomised controlled trial to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a larger trial to evaluate the difference in Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) scores at six months between patients with Achilles tendinopathy treated with a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection compared with an eccentric loading programme. METHODS: Two groups of patients with mid-substance Achilles tendinopathy were randomised to receive a PRP injection or an eccentric loading programme. A total of 20 patients were randomised, with a mean age of 49 years (35 to 66). All outcome measures were recorded at baseline, six weeks, three months and six months. RESULTS: The mean VISA-A score for the injection group at the primary endpoint of six months was 76.0 (95% confidence interval (CI) 58.3 to 93.7) and for the exercise group was 57.4 (95% CI 38.1 to 76.7). There was no statistically significant difference between these scores (p = 0.171), which was expected from such a pilot study. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study has been key to providing data to inform a larger study and shows that the methodology is feasible. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2013;2:227-32.

Original publication

DOI

10.1302/2046-3758.210.2000200

Type

Journal article

Journal

Bone joint res

Publication Date

2013

Volume

2

Pages

227 - 232

Keywords

Achilles tendon, Eccentric loading, Platelet rich plasma