Platelet-rich Plasma Vs Corticosteroid For Treatment Of Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy:a Meta-analysis

Objective:To explore the effectiveness of platelet-rich plasma(PRP)injection regarding functional recovery,pain relief,and range of motion of shoulder compared with the corticosteroid(CS)injection in patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy(RCT)treated.Methods:The clinical controlled trials of PRP injection and corticosteroid injection in Cochrane Library,EMBASE(Excerpta Medica Database),Peb Med,China knowledge Network(CNKI)and Wanfang database were searched.The search time range is to build the database for each database until April 20,2022.According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria,literature screening,data extraction and quality evaluation were carried out by two independent researchers,and the extracted data were statistically analyzed by Review Manager5.4.1 software.The short-term(3-6 weeks),medium-term(8-12 weeks)and long-term(≥ 24 weeks)visual analogue score(VAS),American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score(ASES),Xi’an Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index(WORC)and shoulder range of motion(ROM)were compared.Results:A total of 7 RCTs were included,with a total of 379 patients,including 188 in the PRP group and 191 in the CS group.The results of Meta-analysis showed that there was no significant difference in VAS score,ASES score and WORC score between the two groups during the short-term and mid-term follow-up.In the long-term follow-up,the ASES score [MD=7.1,95%CI(2.06,12.14),P=0.006] and the VAS score[MD=-1.55,95%CI(-2.65,-0.55),P=0.002] were compared With statistical significance.There was no statistically significant difference between the two in the range of motion(ROM)of the shoulder joint.Conclusion:In patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy,clinical evidence from this study showed no significant difference in pain relief and functional recovery between PRP injections and corticosteroid injections during short-and medium-term follow-up.However,in long-term follow-up,RPR injections demonstrated superiority in terms of functional recovery and pain relief compared with corticosteroid injections.There was no significant difference in the range of motion of the shoulder joint between the two groups throughout the follow-up period.