“Platelet-rich plasma and its utility in the treatment of acne scars - A systematic review”

Publication date: Available online 8 February 2019

Source: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology

Author(s): Michael J. Hesseler, Nikhil Shyam

Abstract

The field of dermatology has seen numerous therapeutic innovations in the past decade with platelet-rich plasma recently garnering significant interest in acne scarring. This review consolidates the available evidence of platelet rich plasma for the practicing dermatologist and evaluates the current evidence up to May 31, 2018. A search was conducted in the PubMed database for "platelet rich plasma" or "platelet releasate" or "platelet gel" or "PRP" and "dermatology" or "skin" or "hair" or "cutaneous" with thirteen articles meeting the inclusion criteria. The quality of each individual study was evaluated and levels of evidence were assigned according to the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, Oxford. This review reveals that activated, leukocyte and platelet-rich plasma in combination with fractional ablative laser treatment, administered in 2-3 sequential sessions 1 month apart, improves the appearance of acne scars. The evidence for the use of platelet-rich plasma with microneedling is less supportive. Due to the heterogeneity of studies and widely variable outcome measures, comparison between platelet-rich plasma treatments and subsequent statistical analysis could not be performed. While these studies use various subjective and objective evaluation methods, the addition of platelet-rich plasma provides improvements in acne scarring, higher patient satisfaction and decreased post-procedure downtime.

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