Effects of platelet-rich plasma gel on skin healing in surgical wound in horses.

PURPOSE To establish a low-cost method to prepare platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and evaluates the potential of platelet derived factors to enhance wound healing in the surgical wounds in equine. METHODS To obtain a PRP gel, calcium gluconate and autologous thrombin were added to platelet-rich plasma. For the tests six saddle horses were used and two surgical incisions were made in each animal. Wounds were treated with PRP gel or untreated. Sequential wound biopsies collected at Treatment 1: at days 5 and 30 and Treatment 2: at days 15 and 45 post wounding permitted comparison of differentiation markers and wound repair. RESULTS The optimal platelets enrichment over 4.0 time's baseline values was obtained using 300 g for 10 min on the first centrifugation and 640 g for 10 min on the second centrifugation. CONCLUSION Wounds treated with PRP gel exhibit more rapid epithelial differentiation and enhanced organization of dermal collagen compared to controls in equine.