Non-Invasive Regenerative Therapy for Dupuytren's Contracture: A Case Report

Abstract

Dupuytren’s contracture is a common condition of the hands, it occurs due to fibrosis of the palmar fascia and it ranges from early to debilitating stages impacting hand function. Management differs from observation to a clinical trial of corticosteroid or collagenase injections for early presentation and surgery for advanced cases. This article discusses a middle-aged woman who experienced early left Dupuytren’s contracture and sought to avoid surgery, having previously undergone right palm fasciotomy for Dupuytren’s contracture with a prolonged recovery and ongoing palm numbness. She had one session of investigational platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injected directly into the pathologic cords of the left ring and little fingers, we used local anaesthesia and the procedure was performed under ultrasound guidance. Nine months after the therapy, she experienced significant improvement without complications or relapse. This case highlights the application of relatively safe and affordable clinic-based PRP therapy for Dupuytren’s contracture, owing to the potential endogenous source of certain proteins in both the plasma and mesenchymal stem cells that enable myofibroblasts to reprogram and dedifferentiate into adipocytes. We could not find similar clinical literature using PRP for Dupuytren’s contracture, making this case as a superb finding. We suggest conducting a large-scale randomized controlled trial to validate these findings and standardize the PRP technique, to make regenerative medicine a primary treatment option for early Dupuytren’s contracture before considering surgery.