Table 3 Summary of studies using growth factor application methods in animal and human trials of tendon, ligament and muscle healing

Technique	Species	Tissue type	Study details	Results	Type
ABI	Animal	Tendon		No harmful effects	Crossover
	Animal	Ligament		No harmful effects	Crossover
	Human	Tendon	Edwards 200328—lateral epicondylitis	79% patients complete pain relief	Cohort
		Ligament	Connell 200627—medial epicondylitis	No pain at 6 months
		Ligament	Connell 200627—lateral epicondylitis	No pain at 6 months
ACS	Animal	Muscle	Wright-Carpenter 200426— mice gastrocnemius	Increased satellite cells & myofibres	Controlled trial
ACS	Human	Muscle	Wright-Carpenter 200429— human skeletal muscle	Improved recovery 22.3 vs. 16.6 days	Controlled trial
PRP	Animal	Tendon	Aspenberg 200433–rat Achilles tendon rupture	30% improved strength at 1 week	Cohort
		Ligament	Aspenberg 200433–rat Achilles tendon rupture	30% improved strength at 1 week	Cohort
		Muscle	Carda 200532—skeletal muscle tears	Improved healing at 6 days	Cohort
	Human	Tendon	Mishra 20067—elbow tendinopathy	60%↓ VAS at 8/52 vs. 16%↓ control	Controlled trial
		Ligament	Sanchez 200538—Achilles tendon rupture	Full recovery 14 vs. 21 weeks	Case report
		Ligament	Sanchez 200721—Achilles tendon rupture	Full recovery 14 vs. 21 weeks	Non-randomised trial
		Muscle	Sanchez 200539	Full recovery in half the time of controls	Case series
Suramin	Animal	Muscle	Chan 200531–mice gastrocnemius	↓Scar tissue ↑Tetanic strength	Controlled trial
Relaxin	Animal	Muscle	Negishi 200640—mice skeletal muscle	↓Fibrosis	Crossover
Relaxin	Animal	Muscle	Negishi 200640—mice skeletal muscle	↑Myofibre regeneration	Crossover

ABI, autologous blood injections; ACS, autologous conditioned serum; PRP, platelet-rich plasma.