Platelet rich plasma versus hyaluronic acid in patients with hip osteoarthritis: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background: This study aims to compare the efficacy of intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid (HA) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for treating hip osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: We performed systematic searches in PubMed, EmBase, ScienceDirect Web of science and the Cochrane Library for relevant literature published in or before February 2018. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. The risk of bias assessment was performed using the tool recommended in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (version 5.1.0). We used STATA 14.0 (College Station, TX, USA) to analyze the data.

Results: A total of 287 records were identified by the initial database search. Finally, 4 RCTs were included in our study. The present meta-analysis indicated that PRP was associated with a significant reduction of VAS score at 2 months compared with HA. However, it did not show significantly better outcomes at 6 and 12 months. There was no significant difference regarding the WOMAC and HHS at a 12-month follow up. No increased risk of adverse effects were observed.

Conclusion: Intra-articular injection of PRP was associated with a significant reduction of VAS at 2 months. Both of them showed comparable results in terms of functional recovery. Further studies were still necessary.