EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PRP MICRONEEDLING ON ANDROGENETIC ALOPECIA

Abstract

Background: 
Androgenetic alopecia is a progressive form of patterned hair loss, which usually affects the thickness, density and other aesthetic qualities of scalp hair.Platelet-rich plasma combined with microneedling is one of the non-surgical options that have received interest as a non-invasive treatment that can be used to improve scalp hair qualities and stimulate observable hair growth.

Objective:

To assess the change in hair thickness in participants that were treated with PRP in combination with microneedling based on objective trichoscopic measurements at baseline and after 4 months..

Methodology: 

There was a prospective, interventional single-arm study done on 36 individuals with androgenetic alopecia during a period of 4 months. Follow-up and baseline assessment was made using trichoscopy and standardized scalp photography. The outcome measured was primarily that of hair thickness and other data was measured on hair density, hair count, global photographic evaluation, patient satisfaction, and adverse effects. The SPSS version 26 was used to perform statistical analysis. At baseline and week-16, the Wilcoxon signed-rank was used to compare, whereas the Friedman was used to compare repeated follow-up assessments. The p-value of less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

Results: 

The results of the study revealed that there was a significant improvement in the hair thickness between baseline and the end follow-up. There were improvements in the hair density, hair count, overall assessment, and patient satisfaction over time. Side effects such as discomfort, erythema, edema and pruritus were reported; these were slight and expected with no major adverse events reported.

Conclusion: 

PRP and microneedling combination was effective in androgenetic alopecia during the follow- up. The intervention was shown to be a successful non-invasive procedure that can be used to increase hair density and other related clinical outcomes in individuals seeking non-surgical hair restoration procedure