Regenerative medicine helps local man avoid surgery

Rob Campbell of Stormstown maintains an active lifestyle. With three teenage boys involved in various sports, he is always on the move.

The 49-year-old works as a mechanical engineer at Penn State University and stays physically fit by volunteering as a junior high wrestling and youth football coach, as well as weightlifting and participating in a local men's ice hockey league.

Last winter, while working out with his son, he injured his right arm. After several months of pain without improvement, Campbell sought help from Brian Jacobs, D.O., sports medicine physician at Geisinger Healthplex State College.

“I was diagnosed with a partially torn UCL [ulnar collateral ligament] and a partially torn medial flexor tendon in my right arm,” Campbell said. “They were not completely torn, but very close to requiring surgery.”

Instead of surgery, Dr. Jacobs recommended a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection to help with the injury. PRP is a form of regenerative medicine that uses the body’s own blood cells to help heal damaged tissue.

The procedure involves drawing the patient’s blood and spinning it in a centrifuge to separate the blood’s platelets from the other blood components. The PRP is then injected into the injured area to stimulate healing.

“PRP has been well-studied over the last 20-plus years,” Dr. Jacobs explained. “It is a way to use our body’s natural growth factors to help heal injuries and reduce inflammation. PRP is ideal for tendon injuries such as rotator cuff, elbow tendons, gluteal tendons, patella and Achilles tendons. Additionally, joints such as shoulders, hips and knees do very well with PRP.”

For Campbell, the results were nothing short of fantastic. He needed about a half-dozen physical therapy visits and was able to resume normal activity in two months’ time.

“By the middle of June my arm was feeling much better, and by July I was nearly pain-free and returned to regular activity,” he said.

In August of last year, only a few months after healing his right arm, Campbell injured his left elbow while playing ice hockey. After the pain persisted for two months, he again visited Dr. Jacobs.

“I examined and diagnosed a distal biceps injury but not a complete tear,” Dr. Jacobs said. “He elected once again to try a PRP injection for treatment.”

The results were the same. After a couple days in a sling to keep the injection from migrating from the inured area and a handful of physical therapy treatments, Campbell was back to normal activities in a few months.

With both injuries now fully healed, Campbell is back to his pre-injury routines with lifting and wrestling.

“My arms feel great, and no surgery was involved,” he said. “My youngest son is a very active baseball and football player. I play catch with him almost every day without any pain in my arms, thanks to the PRP treatment. Prior to the PRP with my right arm, I could not throw a ball and even shaking hands with someone was a challenge.”

Geisinger’s orthopaedics team in State College recently purchased a second PRP machine with even better capabilities of concentrating platelets, said Dr. Jacobs.

“Our sports medicine team continues to push the boundaries of its applications,” he said. “When we first brought PRP treatment here six years ago, we were averaging one to two a month. We are now doing more than 20 treatments a month.”

Campbell is very happy with the results of his treatment.

“I am so thankful for this treatment,” he says. “It seems so very natural to take something from your own body to help promote healing. I am grateful in both instances that this treatment was effective, and I was able to avoid surgery.

“With the PRP injections and a little physical therapy, I am back to doing the things I love.”