The study investigates the effectiveness of autologous platelet concentrates (APC) as an adjunct to nonsurgical periodontal therapy in patients with periodontitis.
Objectives
The primary goal of this research is to assess the impact of APC on periodontal health outcomes during nonsurgical treatment of periodontitis.
Methodology
An extensive electronic search was conducted using databases such as Web of Science, MEDLINE via PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane CENTRAL from June to July 2024. The search aimed to identify relevant publications from their inception until June 2024. Two independent reviewers evaluated the articles, focusing on interventional studies that reported periodontal outcomes following the use of adjunctive APC in nonsurgical periodontal therapy (NSPT).
Studies were excluded if they were not published in English or were unpublished. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (RoB 2) was utilized to assess the risk of bias in each study. A fixed-effect meta-analysis was performed to determine the overall effect on periodontal pocket depth (PPD) and Clinical Attachment Level (CAL), and statistical heterogeneity among studies was evaluated using the I² test.
Results
A total of 607 records were identified across the four electronic databases. After removing duplicates and conducting an initial title screening, 16 full-text articles from the electronic search and 7 from manual searches were assessed. Ultimately, 13 studies were included in the systematic review. The analysis revealed that most studies exhibited a moderate to high risk of bias. The fixed-effect meta-analysis indicated that the adjunctive use of APC in nonsurgical periodontal therapy showed favorable summary effects, although there was significant heterogeneity, particularly concerning CAL.
Conclusion
The findings suggest that while APC may offer some benefits as an adjunct in NSPT, the evidence is limited due to the small number of studies, the moderate to high risk of bias in many of them, and the considerable variability in results. Further research is needed to clarify the role of APC in periodontal therapy.