The treatment is favored by top athletes, but the study found no benefit from platelet-rich plasma injections, at lease when administered in a certain way.
A physician who relies on the largely untested therapy says the new research misses the mark. But the study’s lead author stands by the findings, published in the June 26 issues of The New England Journal of Medicine.
“We found no benefit of platelet-rich plasma injections compared to placebo injections” in terms of the time athletes needed to return to playing sports and their risk of getting injured again, said study lead author Dr. Gustaaf Reurink, a sports medicine specialist with the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Hamstrings are muscles at the back of the thigh and crucial to flexing the hip and knee, said Dr. Lewis Maharam, a sports medicine specialist in New York City.
In the past, pro football players with torn hamstrings might need to be kept off the field for 8-12 weeks to recover through rest and physical therapy, Maharam said, but he said platelet-rich plasma injections have made a big difference.
