Chicago, Ill. (July 7, 2009) – This Sunday a local researcher will announce that injecting a patient’s joint with his own blood improves results of a common orthopedic operation. What’s more, the new approach may soon become a routine orthopedic treatment.
“The treatment appears to work,” says Tony Romeo M.D. The orthopedic surgeon heads the Shoulder Service at Rush Medical College and is the Team Physician for the Chicago White Sox. He’ll report his results at this week’s meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine in Keystone, Colorado.
“Anyone with a swollen limb knows blood flows to the site of an injury,” says Dr. Romeo. “What we’re doing is speeding the process.”
Dr. Romeo used the technique on patients with rotator cuff injuries. Such injuries involve tears to the muscles or tendons that connect your upper arm to your shoulder blade. The most common symptoms are pain and weakness.
Dr. Romeo tried the new treatment in an attempt to solve a growing orthopedic problem. Once mainly an injury of younger athletes, rotator cuff injuries now strike mostly active baby boomers. The surgeon says, “These older patients have only a 50/50 chance of benefitting from traditional surgery. They lack the quality and quantity of tissue we need to repair a tear.”
In his new study the surgeon operated on 26 patients who’d already failed rotator cuff surgery. The average patient was in their mid-50s. However, prior to surgery a technician withdrew a small amount of blood and spun it down to separate out the patient’s platelets and plasma. Once removed from the bloodstream those platelets release proteins and growth factors. During surgery Dr. Romeo injected a teaspoon of the platelet-rich substance directly into the shoulder to “kick-start” the body’s own healing process.
“The mix stimulates the growth of new tendon, muscle, and bone cells,” says Dr. Romeo.
Besides using the patient’s blood, Dr. Romeo also stimulated healing by creating more bleeding at the site of the bone. Finally, he used a stronger anchor to stabilize his repair.
The result? Eighty percent of patients had less shoulder pain and better range of motion after their operations.
Dr. Romeo is now one of a handful of surgeons nationwide injecting patients’ own blood, but he says early results are promising. “This could soon be used knee operations, Achilles tendon, and other orthopedic procedures,” he says. “The procedure appears to lower the risk of infection, speed recovery time, and produce better results.”
Professional athletes have already benefited from injections of platelet-rich plasma outside of surgery. In January the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu had themselves injected before winning the Super Bowl. At least one major league pitcher and several professional soccer players have also had injections of their own plasma to speed their recoveries from injuries.
Dr. Romeo’s presentation will show treating professional athletes with this technique is just the beginning. The treatment could also help countless weekend warriors facing surgery.
“This treatment appears to have a place in the operating room,” he says. “It needs a lot more study but it has the potential to revolutionize our profession.”
