Tempe PRP Ledger
A useful quote names the care and the full price
What belongs in a PRP quote? It'll need every planned visit and the total price. PRP means platelet-rich plasma, a layer that clinic staff collect after separating your blood in a machine. That layer has more platelets, while the other blood cells can vary.
Those differences may matter because studies didn't all use the same mix. I'd ask the doctor or nurse why this mix suits your sore area. You don't need lab knowledge to ask that. Office staff shouldn't leave any charge in unclear terms.
The clinic can explain why this PRP mix was chosen
Ask how many platelets remain after the blood is spun. Also ask whether other blood cells stay in the mix. A larger amount isn't always a better match. The doctor or nurse can say why the clinic chose that mix for your joint or tendon.
Try asking, “Were people with my sore area helped in the studies you use?” Then ask what changed for them, such as walking, sleep, or lifting. A fair answer won't hide studies that disagree. It won't promise that you'll get the same result.
The written price covers each charge and safety question
Check whether the first exam, blood work, and follow-up cost extra. Ask if ultrasound pictures will help place the treatment and whether they're included. Get one total when several visits are planned. Don't compare prices until both quotes cover the same care.
Give the office every prescription, store-bought medicine, and supplement you take. Blood thinners may raise bleeding risk, while some pain medicines may affect how the blood works. Don't stop either kind on your own. Ask who'll check with the doctor who prescribed it.
Keep activity gentle until you've received clear advice about driving, walking, and lifting. QC Kinetix medical providers, meaning the licensed care team who'll examine you, offer consultations and regenerative treatments based on blood drawn and processed at the clinic.
Sources
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A systematic review of 105 clinical PRP studies in orthopaedics published 2006-2016 found that only 11 (10%) described the preparation protocol clearly enough for another investigator to repeat it, and only 17 (16%) reported any quantitative metric of the final PRP composition. The authors concluded that the current reporting of PRP preparation and composition does not allow the PRP products actually delivered to patients to be compared between studies.
Chahla J, Cinque ME, Piuzzi NS, et al. — A Call for Standardization in Platelet-Rich Plasma Preparation Protocols and Composition Reporting: A Systematic Review of the Clinical Orthopaedic Literature. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American), 2017. DOI: 10.2106/JBJS.16.01374.
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The DEPA classification was built because platelet and leukocyte counts alone do not describe an injection. Applied retrospectively to 20 published PRP preparations, the dose of injected platelets ranged from 0.21 billion to 5.43 billion - a 25-fold spread. No device recovered more than 90% of the platelets in the blood drawn, and most preparations were contaminated with red blood cells: only three of the devices reached a purity score corresponding to more than 90% platelets relative to red cells and leukocytes.
Magalon J, Chateau AL, Bertrand B, et al. — DEPA classification: a proposal for standardising PRP use and a retrospective application of available devices. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 2016. DOI: 10.1136/bmjsem-2015-000060.
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A Bayesian network meta-analysis of nine studies (six RCTs, 1055 patients) found leukocyte-POOR PRP produced significantly better WOMAC scores than hyaluronic acid (mean difference -21.14; 95% CI -39.63 to -2.65) and than placebo (-17.84; 95% CI -34.95 to -0.73), while leukocyte-RICH PRP showed no such significant difference versus placebo. PRP of either type caused more local adverse reactions than hyaluronic acid (OR 5.63; 95% CI 1.38-22.90), almost always local swelling and pain, with no difference in safety between the two PRP types.
Riboh JC, Saltzman BM, Yanke AB, et al. — Effect of Leukocyte Concentration on the Efficacy of Platelet-Rich Plasma in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2016. DOI: 10.1177/0363546515580787.
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A systematic review and meta-analysis of adverse events in randomized trials of intra-articular PRP for knee osteoarthritis found PRP associated with mild, transient adverse events - knee pain and swelling - that typically resolve without intervention, and more frequent with LEUKOCYTE-RICH formulations. Leukocyte-poor PRP had a safety profile similar to hyaluronic acid. Knee stiffness was more frequent with PRP than with normal saline (P=.031). No severe adverse events were reported in any group.
Nakagawa HF, Kim J, Rabinowitz J, et al. — Assessment of adverse events and safety associated with intra-articular platelet-rich plasma injections compared to other injectates for knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PM&R, 2026. DOI: 10.1002/pmrj.70141.
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A prospective fixed-sequence controlled laboratory study in healthy men found that daily low-dose aspirin significantly reduced release of VEGF, PDGF-AB and TGF-beta1 from freshly isolated leukocyte-rich PRP when activated with arachidonic acid. This is the mechanistic basis for the routine instruction to review antiplatelet and NSAID use before a PRP draw - and the authors noted clinical studies are still needed to establish how much this matters in vivo.
Jayaram P, Yeh P, Patel SJ, et al. — Effects of Aspirin on Growth Factor Release From Freshly Isolated Leukocyte-Rich Platelet-Rich Plasma in Healthy Men: A Prospective Fixed-Sequence Controlled Laboratory Study. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2019. DOI: 10.1177/0363546519827294.
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The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation convened a technical expert panel that ran a structured literature review (2023, updated through June 2025) and a modified Delphi process, and issued five evidence-based clinical recommendations plus 11 consensus-based best practices for PRP in knee osteoarthritis. The statement is explicit that orthobiologic therapies 'remain an evolving area of practice' and that robust, dose-dependent randomized controlled trials are still needed to establish PRP's clinical effects.
Borg-Stein J, Jayaram P, Colorado BS, et al. — AAPM&R guidance statement on platelet rich plasma for knee osteoarthritis. PM&R, 2026. DOI: 10.1002/pmrj.70144.
Ask whether the care fits your sore joint
QC Kinetix medical providers, meaning the licensed care team who examine you, offer consultations and regenerative treatments: non-surgical care based on blood drawn and processed at the clinic for joint or tendon soreness.
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