The Potential Benefits of PRP Treatment for Female Androgenetic Alopecia

New Meta-Analysis of 7 Studies Supports benefits of PRP for Female Androgenetic Alopecia

Authors from Brazil set out to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to  evalute the efficacy of using autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in female androgenetic alopecia.

The authors included 7 studies in their metal-analysis. 3 of the 7 studies compared PRP against placebo. Meta-analysis showed that PRP-treatments increased terminal hair density compared to control without a significant increase in hair thickness. Satisfaction was generally rated high. There were no major side effects although there were mild adverse effects were reported such as headache, mild pain, edema and tenderness, scalp tightness, redness, and post-injection bleeding. The authors were unable to further perform a meta-analysis due to the absence of quantitative data.

Conclusion

All in all, this meta-analysis supports benefits for PRP in treating female AGA with effects on terminal hair density. This meta-analysis is done on 170 patients with very different protocols and only 3 placebo controlled trials which means that conclusions are somewhat limited.

REFERENCE

de Oliveira AFQ et al. Use of autologous platelet-rich plasma in androgenetic alopecia in women: a systematic review and meta-analysis. .J Dermatolog Treat. 2022 Oct 31:1-11.