Observation on the Clinical Efficacy of Platelet-rich Plasma Combined with Intra-articular Injection of Sodium Hyaluronate in the Treatment of Mild to Moderate Knee Osteoarthritis

Songchao Bi

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¹ Civil Aviation Shanghai Hospital, Department of Orthopedics, Shanghai 200050, China,

BAS 2025 , 3(5), 47–54; https://doi.org/10.26689/bas.v3i5.12620

© 2025 by the Authors. Licensee Whioce Publishing, Singapore. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

Abstract

Objective: To explore the clinical efficacy of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) combined with intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate in the treatment of mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and its effects on cartilage metabolism, oxidative stress status and cartilage structure. Methods: A total of 120 patients diagnosed with mild to moderate KOA in the orthopedics department of the hospital from January 2023 to October 2024 were selected and randomly divided into a control group and a study group, with 60 cases in each group. The control group was treated with intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate, while the study group was treated with PRP in combination on this basis. The treatment course was 4 weeks. The clinical efficacy, serum matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13), type II collagen degradation products (CTX-II), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and MRI-T2 mapping results of the two groups after 12 months of treatment were compared. Result: The total effective rate of the study group was 91.67%, which was higher than 75.00% of the control group (p < 0.05). After 12 months of treatment, the levels of serum MMP-13, CTX-II and MDA in the study group were all lower than those in the control group, and the level of SOD was higher than that in the control group (p < 0.01). MRI-T2 mapping showed that the average T2 value of cartilage in the study group was significantly lower than that in the control group, while the cartilage thickness increased significantly (p < 0.05). No serious adverse reactions occurred in either group. Conclusion: Intra-articular injection of PRP combined with sodium hyaluronate can significantly relieve pain in patients with KOA, improve joint function, inhibit cartilage degradation, reduce oxidative stress levels and promote cartilage repair. Its therapeutic effect is superior to that of sodium hyaluronate alone, and it has good safety.

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