Platelet-Rich Plasma Treatments offered by Marion DuPont Scott Equine Center in Virginia

One of the most common causes of lameness in horses–an injury to tendon and ligaments–can now be treated at Virginia Tech’s Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center, with one of the newest treatments available, platelet-rich plasma.
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One of the most common causes of lameness in horses–an injury to tendon and ligaments–can now be treated at Virginia Tech’s Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center near Leesburg, Va., with one of the newest treatments available, platelet-rich plasma.

Platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, is derived from blood that is drawn from an equine patient and run through a centrifuge, which separates a solution’s less dense components from its heavier ones. This process distills a portion of the blood to a platelet concentration level that is five times richer than regular blood. At the same time, it helps to remove both red and white blood cells from the platelet-rich part of the plasma. This work is known as an autologous process.

"Plasma containing this concentrated level of platelets provides an abundance of growth factors, which are the proteins in the body that stimulate cells in the tendon or ligament to start the healing process," explained Jennifer Barrett, DVM, MS, PhD, assistant professor of surgery at the equine medical center. "When PRP is injected into damaged tendon or ligament, cells in the tissue–along with new cells circulating in the blood–are stimulated to bring new cells to the injured site," she said. These healing cells work to increase the formation of new blood vessels and connective tissue, all of which encourages natural repair of the injury."

Because the patient’s own blood is used to make the specialized plasma, there is no risk of the treatment being rejected, as it might be if the blood had been provided by a donor. Autologous processes are used at the equine medical center for other equine therapeutic treatments, including stem cell treatments

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