Cohort Study of PPP Injections for Athletes With Muscle Injury

May 4, 2026 updated by: University of Colorado, Denver

Prospective Cohort Study of Athletes Following an Injection of Platelet-Poor Plasma Into an Acute Muscle Injury

The investigators hypothesize that a single injection of platelet-poor plasma (PPP) into an acute muscle injury will significantly improve local muscle regeneration and patient outcomes compared to the standard of care using only ultrasound-guided hematoma aspiration. Muscle regeneration will be assessed through quantitative MRI analysis. The investigators anticipate that PPP injections will lead to a measurable reduction in scar tissue and an increase in regenerated muscle tissue at the injury site over a six-month period.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

90

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Colorado
    • Georgia
      • Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30322
        • Emory University
    • Iowa
      • Iowa City, Iowa, United States, 52242
        • University of Iowa

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age between 18 and 45 years
  • Diagnosis of a muscle strain in the lower extremities, including but not limited to hamstring, quadriceps, and gastrocnemius
  • Injury occurred within 10 days of the initial clinical evaluation
  • Injury occurred while engaging in athletic or sporting activities
  • Participants must be willing to undergo prescribed physical therapy
  • Participants have agreed to standard-of-care management for their injury, which may include ultrasound-guided aspiration with or without a platelet-poor plasma injection

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previous injection at the injury site.
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding women, or women who may become pregnant during the study duration
  • Injuries resulting from puncture or crush trauma
  • Injuries occurring more than 10 days prior to the injection date
  • Injuries not caused by athletic or sporting activity
  • Previous muscle injury in the same muscle group within 6 months

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: PPP Injection Treated Arm
US-guided aspiration of hematoma (if present) and injection of small volume (1-6cc's) of autologous platelet poor plasma (PPP) at the site of injury and post-injection physical therapy.
Device: Platelet Poor Plasma (PPP) Injection
US-guided aspiration of hematoma (if present) and injection of small volume (1-6cc's) of autologous platelet poor plasma (PPP) at the site of injury and post-injection physical therapy.
No Intervention: No Injection Arm
Standard of care pathway with US-guided aspiration of hematoma (if present) and physical therapy only.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Scar Tissue Volume at the Muscle Injury Site as Measured by Quantitative MRI Mapping
Time Frame: Baseline MRI and 6-month follow-up MRI

Scar tissue volume at the site of acute muscle injury will be measured using quantitative mapping magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI images will be segmented using software to identify abnormal (scar) tissue within the injured muscle. Scar tissue volume will be calculated in cubic centimeters (cm³).

This outcome measure represents the change in scar tissue volume, calculated as the difference between baseline MRI and 6-month follow-up MRI measurements. A lower scar tissue volume indicates greater muscle regeneration and reduced fibrosis.
Baseline MRI and 6-month follow-up MRI

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Colorado, Denver

Collaborators

University of Iowa
Emory University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

May 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2030

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 28, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 28, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 4, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 4, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 22-1841

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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