Effectiveness of autologous preparation rich in growth factors for the treatment of chronic cutaneous ulcers

Autologous Preparation Rich in Growth Factors (PRGF), a small volume of plasma enriched in platelets, is a novel therapeutic strategy for the acceleration of the wound healing of a wide range of tissues because of the continuous release of multiple growth factors, including PDGF‐AB, TGF‐β1, IGF‐I, HGF, VEGF‐A, and EGF. In this article, we have characterized the PRGF preparation and designed a randomized open‐label controlled pilot trial to evaluate the effectiveness of PRGF in the treatment of chronic cutaneous ulcers. Results showed that at 8 weeks, the mean percentage of surface healed in the PRGF group was 72.94% ± 22.25% whereas it was 21.48% ± 33.56% in the control group (p < 0.05). These results, with the limitations of a pilot study, suggest that topical application of PRGF is more effective than standard therapy in helping a chronic ulcer to heal. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 2008