HISTORY OF PRP
PLATELET-RICH PLASMA MEDICAL ORIGINS
PRP was initially developed in the 1970s and first used in an open-heart surgery procedure in 1987. Since then, doctors have used platelet-rich plasma therapy beginning in the mid-1990s to aid bone healing after spinal injury and soft tissue recovery following plastic surgery.
Recently, platelet-rich plasma gained press attention as a treatment for sports-related injuries when two Pittsburgh Steelers, Hines Ward, and Troy Polamalu used it before winning the Super Bowl.
Other nobleathletes who have been treated with platelet-rich plasma therapies are Tiger Woods, Olympic gold medalist Donovan Bailey, Alex Rodriguez, Tracey McGrady, Chris Canty, Cliff Lee and Fred Couples.
In1999, platelet-rich plasma was discovered, or invented, by different companies. The first doctors to get on board with platelet-rich plasma were oral surgeons and plastic surgeons after they observed better healing outcomes in their patients.
A doctor named Allan Mishra in Paolo Alto used PRP with some of the Stanford football players and was able to get them back to playing more quickly post-surgery. Later, Dr. Mishra studied the effectiveness of PRP treatment on tennis elbow, a severe form of tendonitis to treat. The results were that he was able to get 90 percent healing at approximately six months’ time, and these people had had the injuries for over 20 months before PRP therapy. That was in 2004. Since then, it’s been making its way into the medical mainstream. Today, many insurances cover it and it is quickly becoming a best practice in many medical procedures. Many more patients are demanding it as a first option before they consider any surgery.
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