Platelet rich plasma use for tendonitis treatment in equine medicine

Abstract

Tendonitis is a common disease of athlete horses that has high rates of treatment failure, leading to relapses and early interruptions of the animal's athletic activities. Thus, in search of the best options for the treatment of these lesions, platelet rich plasma (PRP) has been used. PRP is a model that contains several therapeutic factors, which increase vascularization, modify the inflammatory response, increase collagen deposition and fiber organization, resulting in a better tendon healing process. The obtaining methods have been studied, but there isn’t consensus on the most apropriated, mainly because the varying the speed and centrifugation force, and the components present in the PRP. The application of PRP is performed intra or perilesional and may be associated with ultrasound to facilitate application in the correct place. The optimal time and optimal frequency of administration are not yet well defined, but the best results have been applied in the acute phase of the lesion, and single administration is the most common practice. Given this, PRP shows as a good alternative for the treatment of tendonitis in horses, being cheap, safe and able to reduce relapses and accelerate the return as the animal's athletic activities.