Advanced Biologic Therapies for Pets

TotalBond Veterinary Hospitals is one of only a few practices across the country to offer Platelet Rich Plasma therapy (PRP). PRP and Stem Cell therapy can help repair muscles, ligaments, or joints that have been damaged by arthritis or injury.

Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP)

Platelets are normally known for their function of clotting blood, but recent research has revealed they also have hundreds of unique proteins and growth factors that have been shown to help manage inflammation and tissue degeneration. Because of its relative simplicity (isolated from a blood sample and injected into tissue, usually under a quick sedation process), the ability of PRP to affect tissue healing and pain relief is an area of intense study. Dr. Epstein even has had PRP injections into his own arthritic shoulder joint!

TotalBond Veterinary Hospitals PC is one of only a few practices across the country to offer Platelet Rich Plasma therapy (PRP). Platelet rich plasma has been demonstrated in humans and animals to accelerate the healing of numerous tissues throughout the body including ligament, tendon, and bone and to aid in the management of osteoarthritis. Autogenous PRP is generated from a dogs own red blood cells and an entire treatment can be performed in about an hour. PRP has numerous advantages over stem cell treatments including its being about 1/10 the cost, and the ability to perform immediate treatment without the need for surgery.

Platelet Rich Plasma and Biologic Medicine – What Can It Do?

Growth factors are critical modulators of tissue healing. The effects of these growth factors have been identified in the healing of tissues throughout the body. PRP has been used extensively in human dentistry, orthopedics and plastic surgery for its ability to enhance healing. Unlike many other treatments, there is extensive evidence in published literature regarding the science and efficacy of PRP treatments for osteoarthritis, ligament/tendon injuries, wound healing, and more.

Applications of PRP in Tendons and Ligaments

Studies have demonstrated increased tendon callus production and stronger healing when the tendon repair sites were treated with PRP. Growth factors found in PRP increase type I collagen production and tenocyte proliferation. PRP has been used extensively in humans and horses for tendon and ligament injuries. In small animals PRP has been shown to slow the progression of osteoarthritis and PRP injections have been reported to result in decreased pain and improved function in humans and dogs with degenerative cartilage disease. We are currently treating cases of arthritis with a series of 2-3 intraarticular PRP injections approximately 2 weeks apart.

Stem Cell Therapy

An even more advanced biologic therapeutic is “Adipose-derived Autologous Mesenchymal Stem Cell” transplantation. It is important to note here that we are not talking about embryonic stem cells! “Autologous” means that the stem cells are the dormant ones isolated from the patient (from fat, “adipose” tissue) that are then subsequently placed (“transplanted”) back into the same patient. The principle of this therapy is to concentrate stem cells and growth factors, activate them, and get them to damaged tissue to elicit a cascade of anti-inflammatory and healing processes (not, we should add, to create new cartilage cells in a joint). Further, the stem cells can be frozen and even cultured so that theoretically, there remains available a supply of viable cells for repeating the transplantation far into the future. Disadvantages to autologous stem cell therapeutics are its overall expense (3X more than PRP for example), and involves a surgical procedure under general anesthesia to harvest the adipose tissue from which the stem cells are isolated, with the patient returning 2-3 days later for the transplantation injections (this time, however, under sedation).