A body representing physiotherapists has issued a warning about platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection training, suggesting that one-day courses are insufficient.
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) said that some companies are advertising short PSP injection courses aimed at physiotherapists, student physiotherapists and those awaiting registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.
The injection involves taking and administering a concentration of a patient’s own platelets to accelerate the healing of injured tendons, ligaments, muscles and joints. The platelets stimulate and increase reparative cells, which can help alleviate musculoskeletal disorders.
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Although there is no legal requirement for injection therapy training to be formally regulated, the CSP has issued recommendations to ensure patient safety. These suggest that physiotherapy injection training should involve at least 150 hours of learning, including supervised practice and a formal assessment.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence also has procedures guidelines for PRP injections for knee osteoarthritis.
The CSP added: “Physiotherapists who wish to offer PRP injection-therapy for physiotherapeutic purposes, namely the reduction of pain, inflammation and swelling in joints, need to understand and assess the implications of current evidence and ensure any clinical decision is based on sound reasoning.”
It also said PRP injections are covered by its professional liability insurance scheme, but the act of taking and manipulating a patient’s blood is not because it is not within the scope of usual physiotherapy practice.
“Any physiotherapist who draws the blood, prepares the PRP and then injects it, must acknowledge to themselves and to their patients that they are not acting as a physiotherapist,” the CSP said. “Separate insurance for any activity undertaken that is not physiotherapy practice must be sought.”
