Aprotinin

[hhh]

What time frame is required for a follow up post an aprotinin injection for achilles tendonitis to judge success? I understand you need a series of injections (2-6 I think) spaced 1-2 weeks apart. Is the effect immediate or is a longer period required? There appears to be a paucity of literature that is medline indexed.

[injuryupdate]

Not much on Medline as most of the published stuff has been written by the Italians and the French. They claim good results, but to be honest, there is very little written on anything involving RCTs.

Main justification for using Aprotinin is that, as a broad spectrum proteinase/MMP inhibtor (and collagenase inhibitor) it should hopefully increase net collagen synthesis and therefore strengthen a weakened tendon.

Main negative against its use is that it doesn't have the research follow up of many studies and there is a high rate of allergy to the drug.

A few of the non-medline papers are posted on this site.

[hhh]

If I were to have an injection, in your opinion, how many should I have, over what time frame? How long should I wait before before judging success (if I am asymptomatic post the injections)?