Clinical and functional outcome comparison for platelet rich plasma with steroid injection in patients with isolated subacromial impingement syndrome

Background: To compare the 6-weeks, 3 and 6 months outcome in 80 patients who received an injection of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or steroid for sub-acromial impingement syndrome (SIS).Methods: There were 42 males and 38 females received a single-dose injection of PRP (n=40) or steroid (n=40) for SIS that had not responded to conservative treatment for more than 6 months. Both groups were put on physiotherapy protocol followed in our institution. The use of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs was prohibited. Patients were evaluated before and 6 weeks, 3 and 6 months after treatment using the constant score, visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, and range of motion (ROM) of the shoulder.Results: No local or systemic complication occurred. Improvement in the constant score and VAS for pain at week 6, 3 and month 6 was clinically better following steroid than PRP injection. However, this difference was statistically insignificant. The 2 groups were comparable for improvement in ROM of the shoulder.Conclusions: PRP injection was not more effective than steroid injection for treatment of SIS in terms of at the end of 6 months. However, long term studies should be indicated to substantiate the findings.