An exercise-based physical therapy program for patients with patellar tendinopathy after platelet-rich plasma injection

Abstract

Objectives: To describe a post platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection, exercise-based physical therapy program, investigate feasibility and report the first results of patellar tendinopathy patients treated with PRP injection combined with the physical therapy program.

Study design: Case-series.

Setting: A PRP injection followed by a physical therapy program seems promising for the treatment of patellar tendinopathy. However, descriptions of physical therapy programs are often limited and incomplete.

Participants: Five patellar tendinopathy patients (six tendons) in the degenerative phase.

Main outcome measure: VISA-P score.

Results: Muscle strength, endurance, power and retraining sport-specific function form the basis for the physical therapy program aiming to improve the load capacity of the knee. The program is characterised by gradually increasing intensity and difficulty of exercises. Five of the six tendons showed an improvement of at least 30 points on the VISA-P after 26 weeks.

Conclusions: This study extensively describes, based on current knowledge, a physical therapy program after PRP injection for patellar tendinopathy patients. The combination treatment reported in this study is feasible and seems to be promising for patients in the late/degenerative phase of patellar tendinopathy.