NCT01355549

Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy for Shoulder Pain in Persons With Spinal Cord Injury

A Pilot Study to Evaluate the Feasibility of Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy as a Treatment for Chronic Shoulder Pain in Persons With Spinal Cord Injury

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 1
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 6 (actual)
• Sponsor: Kessler Foundation · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 60 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Shoulder pain is common in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). It is most often caused by overuse injuries to the muscles and tendons that can occur during wheelchair propulsion, transfers, and other activities of daily living. Normally, shoulder pain resolves with conservative treatments such non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g. aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, etc.) and physical therapy. However, when these treatments fail, shoulder surgery may be the only option. Platelet Rich Plasma therapy, or PRP, is a treatment option for non-healing muscle and tendon injuries such as those that cause shoulder pain in persons with SCI. Using one's own blood, cells within the blood called "platelets" are concentrated and then re-injected into the muscle and tendon of the shoulder. These platelets release substances known as "growth factors" that lead to tissue healing. By concentrating the platelets we increase the growth factors up to eight times which will promote the healing of tendons. PRP therapy has shown promise in treating tendon and muscle injuries in able-bodied persons; however, its effectiveness in persons with SCI is unknown. The purpose of this study is to explore the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of PRP therapy for chronic shoulder pain in persons with SCI. The human body has a remarkable ability to heal itself and we hypothesize that re-injecting concentrated platelets will facilitate the natural healing process and will reduce shoulder pain in persons with SCI.

Conditions

• Shoulder Pain
• Rotator Cuff Tendinitis
• Rotator Cuff Syndrome
• Spinal Cord Injury

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BIOLOGICAL	Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy	Platelet rich plasma (PRP) describes a new technology in which platelets are isolated from a sample of a person's own blood using simple cell-separating systems such as centrifugation in order to obtain highly concentrated samples of platelets that can be re-injected into an injury site to promote healing.

Timeline

• Start date: 2011-05-01
• Primary completion: 2012-11-01
• Completion: 2012-11-01
• First posted: 2011-05-18
• Last updated: 2013-01-15

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States