Patients are often only offered corticosteroid injections for adhesive capsulitis, but steroid injections often only provide short-term pain relief (Koh; Buchbinder et al.). Recent studies have indicated that excessive corticosteroid injections can cause hyperglycemia, atrophy of subcutaneous tissue and detrimental effects on cartilage (Mohamadi et al; Waterbrook et al.). Therefore, platelet rich plasma or PRP has attracted increased attention as an alternative to corticosteroid injections. PRP is obtained from a patient’s own blood, and the platelets are concentrated and reinjected into the affected body part (Descalzi et al.; Yin et al.). PRP contains a variety of growth factors that are helpful in the healing process (Kaux et al.; Yerlikaya et al.).

In a recent systematic review, Lin et al. performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of articles comparing the effect of PRP and corticosteroid injections in patients with adhesive capsulitis. In this study, the authors reviewed 14 studies that met inclusion criteria.

The authors found that there was not a significant difference between PRP and non-PRP treatments 1-month after the procedure, the PRP group did show a significant improvement in range of motion, pain and disability at 3-months when compared with other non-PRP treatments. At the 6-month follow up PRP also demonstrated superiority when compared to other non-PRP treatments.

The authors conclude that PRP injections are effective for adhesive capsulitis and recommended PRP injections as a treatment option for patients with adhesive capsulitis (Lin et al.).

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