A new study published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine showed that a single injection of PRP (platelet-rich plasma) was both more effective and longer lasting than a cortisone injection for the treatment of symptomatic gluteus medius tendinitis.
80 patients were randomized to receive either a PRP
injection or a cortisone under, both under ultrasound guidance. The PRP
injection resulted in greater improvement in pain and function than a single
cortisone injection. The improvement after the PRP injection was sustained at 2
years, whereas the improvement from the steroid injection was maximal at 6
weeks and not maintained beyond 24 weeks.
The gluteus medius is a muscle deep to the gluteus maximus. The gluteus
medius tendon attaches to the side of the hip bone, known as the greater
trochanter. The main function of the gluteus medius to help rotate or
turn the hip outwards and to help stabilize the hip and leg.
Pain over the greater trochanter is most often misdiagnosed as
“trochanteric bursitis,” and patients routinely receive cortisone
injections to treat it. But studies increasingly show that the underlying
problem far more commonly is glute med tendinitis. Cortisone is a
powerful anti-inflammatory. But the underlying problem is wear and tear
of the tendon, much more than inflammation. And cortisone not only does
little to help repair the damage, it can actually cause more harm to the
tissue! PRP, on the other hand, actually stimulates a natural repair of
the damaged tendon.