Platelet rich plasma (PRP) is a blood by-product that is made by centrifugation of blood. It is rich in platelets which are a reservoir for growth factors. PRP can enhance the healing response and quality of repair at the cellular level in treatment of tendonitis and suspensory ligament desmitis (bowed tendons). Tendonitis and inflammation of suspensory ligaments are common injuries in performance horses that have tendons that are overloaded or overworked. Traditional treatments have included icing, supportive bandaging, anti-inflammatory medication, and rehabilitation techniques. These methods can be valuable but often do not restore the tendon or ligament to normal which can leave a horse prone to re-injury of the tissue. PRP combined with these traditional treatment methods has been found to produce favorable results in these injuries.
Here at Beadle Lake Large Animal Clinic we use PRP for the treatment of these ligament and tendon injuries. We can obtain PRP from either a universal donor or it can be harvested from the patient (blood draw). The PRP is injected into the injury site to enhance the speed and quality of injury healing.