Outcomes of Osteoarthritis Knee: A Comparative Study of PRP and Hyaluronic Acid at a Tertiary Level Hospital in Bangladesh

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is common and can affect a patient's ability to move and perform daily tasks. There is hope for managing knee OA with minimally invasive treatments such as hyaluronic acid (HA) injections and platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Patients with mild to moderate knee OA were enrolled in this study at a tertiary-level hospital in Bangladesh to compare the effects of intra-articular PRP and HA injections. Methods: Forty patients participated in this clinical research; twenty got HA injections, and twenty got PRP injections. The Rajshahi Medical College Hospital's Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation accepted patients from January 2022 to December 2022. A visual analog scale (VAS) and the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score were utilized in clinical examinations before injection and three to six months and twelve months following injection (KOOS). The knee's range of motion and crepitation were assessed at every checkup. Post-test results were compared to pre-test results. Results: After comparing platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections with hyaluronic acid (HA) injections for knee osteoarthritis, PRP was the safer and more practical choice. Over a 12-month follow-up period with indicated PRP injections, PRP showed sustained benefits in patient-reported outcomes, such as pain reduction and increased daily function. The PRP group showed considerable improvements in pain levels and quality of life, as evidenced by raised ratings across KOOS subscales and reduced Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores. Additionally, the PRP group outperformed the HA group in terms of crepitation improvement; at the first follow-up, 80% of PRP patients had gone from coarse to fine crepitation, while only 40% of HA recipients had done so. Conclusion: Patients with knee OA benefit from intra-articular PRP and HA injections. Compared to HA, PRP therapy improved most outcome indicators better and longer. PRP injections may be a better knee OA treatment in this patient cohort