Arthroscopic Surgery Combined With Platelet-Rich Plasma Does Not Significantly Improve the Pain, Function, Complications, and Retear Rate Compared With Arthroscopic Surgery Alone for Full-Thickness Rotator Cuff Tears: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of arthroscopic surgery combined with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) compared to arthroscopic surgery alone in the treatment of patients with full-thickness rotator cuff tears (RCT).

Methods

The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Scopus, EBSCO, Web of Science, CNKI, and Wanfang Database were systematically searched from inception to November 2023. Subject words combined with free words were used to collect randomized controlled trials focusing on arthroscopic surgery combined with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in the treatment of full-thickness RCT. The assessment of evidence quality employed the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool, and data analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software.

Results

A total of 9 studies with 537 patients were included. The meta-analysis revealed that compared to the arthroscopic surgery alone group, the summary result of UCLA scores in the arthroscopic combined with PRP group was [MD = 1.08, 95% CI 0.19∼1.97, P=0.02], subgroup analysis of surgical suture method VAS Single-row [MD = -1.00, 95% CI -1.50∼-0.50, P<0.0001], VAS Double-row [MD = -0.10, 95%CI -0.17∼-0.02, P=0.02], CMS Single-row [MD = 3.49, 95%CI 0.32∼ 6.66, P=0.03], the difference was statistically significant, and the differences in VAS, CMS, qDASH, complications and retear rate were not statistically significant.

Conclusions

Patients undergoing arthroscopic repair combined with PRP treatment showed no difference in pain, function, complications, and retear rate compared to those treated with arthroscopic surgery alone.