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Comparing Platelet Rich Plasma and Corticosteroid for Military & Civilian Patients With Glenohumeral Osteoarthritis (PRP)

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center logo

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

Status and phase

Active, not recruiting
Phase 3

Conditions

Corticosteroid
Osteoarthritis of the Shoulder
PRP
Pain

Treatments

Biological: Delayed Platelet Rich Plasma Injection After Corticosteroid Injection Failure
Biological: Platelet Rich Plasma Injection
Biological: Corticosteroid Injection

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other U.S. Federal agency

Identifiers

NCT05160441
WRNMMC-2021-0345

Details and patient eligibility

About

Shoulder arthroplasty provides successful improvement in pain and function for the treatment of end stage osteoarthritis (OA) of the shoulder in the older patient population (Sanchez 2008, Sampson 2010, Kon 2012, Fitzpatrick 2017). However, the optimal non-operative treatment for shoulder OA in the young active duty and civilian populations has yet to be determined. Although corticosteroid injections (CSI) are a viable option with diagnostic and short-term therapeutic benefit in glenohumeral OA, steroid does little to address the underlying pathology and confers risk of adjacent tendon failure (Kon 2009, Gosens 2011, Monto 2014, Tietze 2014). Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) derived from autologous blood, however, has the potential to enhance soft tissue healing as previously observed in muscles and tendons (Sanchez 2005, Randelli 2008, Hall 2009). PRP contains growth factors purported to safely facilitate local tissue regeneration as corroborated in multiple clinical studies investigating tendinopathy (Virchenko 2006, Kesikburun 2013, Fitzpatrick 2017, Schwitzguebel 2019). PRP is a promising concept to bridge the gap between conventional non-operative measures and surgical arthroscopy or arthroplasty options in a high functioning patient population with refractory disease. However, clinical literature elucidating the effects of intra-articular leukocyte-poor PRP (LP-PRP) injections in large joint degenerative OA has been slower to emerge, lacking substantiated data due to small sample sizes and treatment variability. Therefore, high level evidence-based studies remain critical in ascertaining the therapeutic value and clinical efficacy of LP-PRP in glenohumeral OA in order to establish standard of care protocols and guide systematic implementation.

Full description

Shoulder arthroplasty provides successful improvement in pain and function for the treatment of end stage osteoarthritis (OA) of the shoulder in the older patient population (Sanchez 2008, Sampson 2010, Kon 2012, Fitzpatrick 2017). However, the optimal non-operative treatment for shoulder OA in the young active duty and civilian populations has yet to be determined. Although corticosteroid injections (CSI) are a viable option with diagnostic and short-term therapeutic benefit in glenohumeral OA, steroid does little to address the underlying pathology and confers risk of adjacent tendon failure (Kon 2009, Gosens 2011, Monto 2014, Tietze 2014). Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) derived from autologous blood, however, has the potential to enhance soft tissue healing as previously observed in muscles and tendons (Sanchez 2005, Randelli 2008, Hall 2009). PRP contains growth factors purported to safely facilitate local tissue regeneration as corroborated in multiple clinical studies investigating tendinopathy (Virchenko 2006, Kesikburun 2013, Fitzpatrick 2017, Schwitzguebel 2019). PRP is a promising concept to bridge the gap between conventional non-operative measures and surgical arthroscopy or arthroplasty options in a high functioning patient population with refractory disease. However, clinical literature elucidating the effects of intra-articular leukocyte-poor PRP (LP-PRP) injections in large joint degenerative OA has been slower to emerge, lacking substantiated data due to small sample sizes and treatment variability. Therefore, high level evidence-based studies remain critical in ascertaining the therapeutic value and clinical efficacy of LP-PRP in glenohumeral OA in order to establish standard of care protocols and guide systematic implementation.

Although commonly used corticosteroid injections have shown some clinical benefit, there are known deleterious effects from steroid use, which include accelerated osteoarthritis progression, cartilage toxicity, and increased risk of septic arthritis. In addition to this, multiple studies demonstrate corticosteroids confers risk of adjacent tendon failure (Kon 2009, Gosens 2011, Monto 2014, Tietze 2014). There is also a concern that multiple corticosteroid injections increase the risk of fat atrophy, skin pigment changes, and tissue thinning if placed incorrectly in the more superficial tissue of the shoulder. These negative findings associated with corticosteroid injections have prompted ongoing research into alternative orthobiologic treatments that provide short to medium duration benefit for patients with osteoarthritis.

Conversely, Leukocyte-Poor Platelet-Rich Plasma (LP-PRP), derived from autologous blood, has demonstrated safety and efficacy in multiple pre-clinical, randomized controlled clinical trials, and meta-analysis studies in the other large joints, causing slow acceptance in the medical community to utilize this as a treatment option, despite its increased cost compared to corticosteroid injection (Campbell 2015, Cavallo 2014, Lai 2015, Laudy 2015, Patel 2013, Smith 2016, Tietze 2014, Piuzzi 2019). However, clinical literature elucidating the effects of intraarticular leukocyte-poor PRP (LP-PRP) injections in shoulder joint degenerative OA has been slower to emerge, lacking substantiated data due to small sample sizes and treatment variability. Therefore, high level evidence-based studies remain critical in ascertaining the therapeutic value and clinical efficacy of LP-PRP in glenohumeral OA in order to establish standard of care protocols and guide systematic implementation. PRP is a promising concept to bridge the gap between conventional non-operative measures and surgical arthroscopy or arthroplasty options in a high functioning patient population with refractory disease.

Enrollment

50 patients

Sex

All

Ages

18 to 70 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

  • DEERS eligible
  • Male or female, aged 18 to 70 years (inclusive)
  • Presenting symptoms of shoulder pain caused by mild to moderate Shoulder OA as defined by Samilson Prieto criteria on a standard anterior-posterior (AP) Xray series
  • BMI < 40
  • Willing and able to give voluntary informed consent to participate in this investigation
  • Glenohumeral joint osteoarthritis that has been refractory to standard care treatments

Exclusion criteria

  • Patients who have received shoulder intraarticular or subacromial injection(s) in the last 3 months
  • Patients who have undergone arthroscopic surgery on the study shoulder within the past year
  • Patients who have undergone arthroplasty on the study shoulder
  • Diabetes (Type 1 or II)
  • Inflammatory arthropathies
  • Fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome
  • Female patient who is pregnant or nursing
  • Patients taking narcotics
  • Patients with planned deployment or separation from the military within 12 months
  • Any other serious medical condition(s) that might preclude optimal outcome and/or interfere with participation such as intra-articular sepsis, bacteremia, fracture, joint instability, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, cancer, and coagulopathy
  • Patients who have had an adverse reaction to a previous corticosteroid or PRP injection either documented in the medical record or shared by the patient during screening

Trial design

Primary purpose

Treatment

Allocation

Randomized

Interventional model

Parallel Assignment

Masking

Single Blind

50 participants in 3 patient groups

Platelet Rich Plasma Injection Group
Experimental group
Description:
Minimum 2cc Leukocyte Poor Platelet Rich Plasma
Treatment:
Biological: Platelet Rich Plasma Injection
Corticosteroid Injection Group
Active Comparator group
Description:
5cc Normal Saline + 2cc 10 mg/ml Triamcinolone Acetonide (Kenalog)
Treatment:
Biological: Corticosteroid Injection
Delayed Platelet Rich Plasma Injection Group upon Corticosteroid Injection Failure
Experimental group
Description:
If a participant does not have any benefit from the corticosteroid injection by the six-week follow-up time point, then that participant will be eligible for a platelet rich plasma injection.
Treatment:
Biological: Delayed Platelet Rich Plasma Injection After Corticosteroid Injection Failure

Trial documents
1

Trial contacts and locations

1

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Central trial contact

Jennifer L Smith, MD; Kelly G Kilcoyne, MD

Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov

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