Platelet-rich plasma prevents blood loss and pain and enhances early functional outcome after total knee arthroplasty: a prospective randomised controlled study.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether platelet-rich plasma (PRP) might prevent blood loss and postoperative pain and expedite wound healing following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). METHODS: Forty consecutive patients with knee arthritis who were matched for age, sex and body mass index (BMI) were randomly allocated to either receive or not receive PRP application over the wound, including capsule, medial and lateral recesses, during TKA. Postoperative haemoglobin, blood loss, blood transfusion, visual analogue scale (VAS) score, wound score, Knee Society Score (KSS) and Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score were recorded and evaluated. RESULTS: The platelet-rich plasma and control groups comprised 17 and 23 patients, respectively. The PRP group recorded significantly less reduction in haemoglobin and need for blood transfusion (p = 0.00 and p = 0.001, respectively), experienced less pain (p = 0.00) and required fewer narcotics than the control (p = 0.00). There was significant difference in range of motion (ROM) at three months (p = 0.01), no significant difference in wound scores (p = 0.311) and significant difference in KSS and WOMAC scores at 12 weeks (p = 0.00, 0.00). However no significant difference was found at six months. CONCLUSIONS: PRP has significant effect in preventing blood loss, postoperative pain and need for narcotics after TKA and has a positive effect on short-term clinical outcome.

Congenital mesenchymoma of tibia: case report and review of literature.

Fibrocartilaginous mesenchymoma is a rare bone tumor arising from long bones in children and adolescents. With only 21 cases reported in the literature, it is often not included in the differential diagnosis in patients with a bone tumor. Previously, the youngest case reported was in a 19-month-old boy, and a congenital variant had not been reported. We describe a case of congenital fibrocartilaginous mesenchymoma of the proximal tibia that presented shortly after birth. Biopsy of a suspected malignancy on imaging confirmed the diagnosis. The child was temporarily lost to follow up and presented again with genu varum and limb shortening but surprisingly, the tumor had completely resolved without surgical intervention.