Hope for mid-term knee arthritis patients...Himchan Hospital PRP injection, pain relief and functional improvement
Sep 10, 2025
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In particular, when it reaches the end of knee arthritis, all cartilage is worn out, and joint bones collide with each other, causing severe pain, making artificial joint surgery inevitable. Therefore, before progressing to the end of arthritis, active treatment should be performed according to the progressive stage of the disease.
In December last year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare approved the new medical technology 'Intra-articular Injection of Autologous Platelet Rich Plasma in Knee Osteoarthritis' is emerging as another treatment for mid-term knee arthritis. It is also commonly referred to as a 'PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) injection'.
Lee Dong-nyeong, head of Himchan Hospital (Orthopedic Surgeon), said "This treatment is expected to ease joint pain and improve function by intra-articular injection in an outpatient clinic without incision or surgery, which will ease the time and cost burden on knee arthritis patients."
◇'self-platelet-rich plasma intraarticular injection for mid-term knee arthritis patients'…Pain relief and functional improvement
Autologous platelet-rich plasma intraarticular injection approved as a new medical technology is a non-surgical treatment for patients with mid-term knee arthritis. According to the notice, it is a safe and effective technology for knee osteoarthritis patients with grades 2 to 3 of KL (Kellgren-Lawrence grade) who do not respond to more than a year of conventional treatment (taking oral drugs and intra-articular injections of steroids or hyaluronic acid). KL grade is a classification system that evaluates the severity of knee osteoarthritis and is usually divided into grades 1 to 4. Patients with mid-term knee arthritis who have some cartilage remaining are classified into grades 2 to 3.
In the procedure, 20 to 30mL of the patient's own peripheral blood is collected and self-platelet-rich plasma separated through a centrifuge is injected alone into the knee joint cavity. According to papers related to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's New Medical Technology Notice, the more blood collected, the more platelets are included, so the pain relief effect is observed to increase.
The advantage of this treatment is that the risk of side effects or rejection is very low because the patient's own blood is used. In addition, treatment is performed only by injection without incision or surgery, so hospitalization is not required, and treatment is possible in an outpatient clinic, reducing the time and cost burden on patients. After the same day's procedure, you can quickly return to your daily life. ◇Himchan Hospital expects to improve its effectiveness with a patented activation device
Self-platelet-rich plasma has more than 1 million platelets per 1 μL (microliter) of blood, and platelets are concentrated four to seven times higher than ordinary blood. Various ingredients contained in platelets can be used to treat damaged joints to relieve pain and improve function.
Increasing platelet activity is known to help the therapeutic effect, so many studies are being conducted in this regard. Currently, overseas, chemical methods that are activated by adding platelet activation factors such as calcium and thrombin are widely used, and safety problems such as side effects as well as time and cost problems have been reported.
On the other hand, the activation of platelets using physical methods is expected to compensate for these problems. Since the natural activation principle of platelets is used without adding a chemical activator, the risk of side effects caused by chemical methods can be reduced. In particular, Himchan Hospital is working with the manufacturer to study PROACT+, a patented special activation device, to enhance the treatment effect through physical activation of platelets.
The activation of platelets is completed by installing empty syringes and autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) syringes at both ends of PROACT+ and alternating passing through both syringes for about a minute. PROACT+ was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in early 2024, and Himchan Hospital is currently the only orthopedic hospital in Korea.
"While intracranial injections of bone marrow aspiration concentrate (BMAC) are recommended for one treatment, inpatient treatment is recommended, self-platelet-rich plasma (PRP) intraacranial injections require three to five treatments depending on the patient's condition, but they can be performed on the same day in an outpatient clinic without a separate hospitalization," explained Ryu Seung-yeol, head of the medical center at Himchan Hospital (Orthopedic Surgeon). "Since the criteria for treatment are strict, it is necessary to carefully judge the suitability of treatment for each patient through in-depth consultation with the doctor and thorough diagnosis."," he added.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
