What are growth factors in sport?
Plasma rich in growth factors is a technique that allows the treatment of injuries, especially those of a sporting nature. They are proteins found in the blood and have a great capacity to accelerate tissue regeneration. Growth factors have biological effects such as cell proliferation and differentiation, regeneration of blood vessels (angiogenesis) and migration of cells where there should be regeneration (chemotaxis).
Growth factors allow rapid regeneration of injured tissues.
Why is it performed?
The growth factors in sport are a technique widely used in elite athletes, by specialists in Sports Medicine, to try to shorten the recovery time after an injury, whether muscular, tendon, ligament or joint. To apply the treatment it is important to correctly locate the injury with ultrasound and the time of infiltration is very important to obtain adequate treatment and results. The number of necessary infiltrations will vary according to the lesion, but between one infiltration and another there should not be more than 21 days.
What does it consist of?
The growth factors in sport consist of extracting blood from the patient and centrifuging it outside the body to isolate and concentrate the necessary proteins. Then it will be injected again with an infiltration in the areas to be treated. To control the injection, it will be visualized under ultrasound. When plasma rich in growth factors is infiltrated into the lesion, the cell regeneration process is accelerated and improved, shortening the recovery time, and the patient suffers fewer complications. In addition, the use of plasma rich in growth factors intraoperatively in arthroscopy, tendon ruptures or anterior cruciate ligament operations, among others, has shown good results that allow the patient an adequate functional recovery in less time.
It is a technique that has a wide and increasingly demanded field of application, not only in elite athletes. And this is one of the objectives, to make the treatment available to all people who perform physical activities at any level, as well as to those who suffer from any pathology that affects their quality of life, such as osteoarthritis of the knee or hip.
Preparation for growth factors in sport
The growth factors applied to sport is a simple, harmless and minimally invasive technique or intervention, so that no great preparation will be necessary before undergoing it. In any case, the specialist in Sports Medicine will inform the patient about it. Preoperative tests such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging will be necessary to locate the exact location of the lesion. The patient should also inform the specialists of any medication he/she is taking.
Post-operative care
Treatment with growth factors is normally harmless and well tolerated by the patient, with no adverse effects. However, the sports medicine specialist will be the one to indicate to the patient what procedure to follow after the injection of growth factors. In addition, the treatment offers a regenerative, anti-inflammatory and analgesic result, so in addition to accelerating recovery, it will reduce pain and improve the mobility of the treated joint or tissue.
Alternatives to this treatment
The alternative treatments to the growth factors in sport will be any that allow a regeneration of the tissues to a similar level. The specialist will recommend in each case what is the best therapy or treatment, assessing the injury, the patient’s state of health and other factors that may influence.