Guidance
3 Committee considerations
The evidence
3.1 To inform the committee, NICE did a rapid review of the published literature on the efficacy and safety of this procedure. This comprised a comprehensive literature search and detailed review of the evidence from 8 sources, which was discussed by the committee. The evidence included 3 systematic reviews and 5 randomised controlled trials, and is presented in table 2 of the interventional procedures overview. Other relevant literature is in the appendix of the overview.
3.2 The specialist advisers and the committee considered the key efficacy outcomes to be: reduction in pain and improvement in knee function using validated scores, and quality of life.
3.3 The specialist advisers and the committee considered the key safety outcomes to be: infection, bleeding, pain and inflammation.
3.4 Patient commentary was sought but none was received.
Committee comments
3.5 There are several different treatment protocols with different preparation and administration methods, resulting in higher or lower concentrations of platelets. Some protocols use plasma that has either low or high concentrations of leukocytes (white blood cells).
3.6 This procedure is used for patients with early or mid-stage knee osteoarthritis.
ISBN: 978-1-4731-3200-9