What’s new in tendinopathies? - Which efficacy for the new treatments?

Tendinopathy is a major problem in medicine. It is due, inter alia, to mechanical overload. Painful and disabling, it frequently leads physical workers to impair their quality of life. It remains a chal- lenge for the medical world, to the extent that its frequent resist- ance to conventional treatments rarely gives the patient a favour- able outcome following therapeutic management. It is the reason why new treatments have been developed...
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is blood plasma with a high concen- tration of autologous platelets which constitute an immense res- ervoir of growth factors. The clinical use of PRP is widespread in various medical applications. Although highly popular with athletes, the use of PRP for the treatment of tendinopathies re- mains scienti cally controversial, particularly due to the diversity of products that go by the name of ‘PRP.’
Recently, the viscoelastic properties of hyaluronic acid (HA) on liquid connective tissue have been proposed for the treatment of tendinopathies. Some fundamental studies show encouraging results on hyaluronic acid’s ability to promote tendon gliding and reduce adhesion as well as to improve tendon architectural or- ganisation. Some observations also support its use in a clinical setting to improve pain and function.