OBJECTIVE The internet is increasingly being used as a resource for health-related information by the general public. We sought to establish the authorship, content, and accuracy of the information available online regarding platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy for knee osteoarthritis. DESIGN Top 200 search results from each of the 3 leading search engines available online (Google, Yahoo!, Bing) were screened, and 181 websites were finally reviewed for content with emphasis on specific claims, comparing between websites authored by private physicians/groups and other authorship types. RESULTS Nearly 80% of the websites claimed that PRP injections for osteoarthritis of the knee improve patients' pain. A total of 42.8% of the private websites and 27.6% of nonprivate websites have stated that the procedure can delay or eliminate the need for future surgery. Costs were only mentioned by few (11.6%), and mainly by the nonprivate websites. Both website groups were unlikely to mention that PRP therapy is not the treatment of choice for end-stage knee osteoarthritis (7.9% of private and 17.2% of the nonprivate sites), or to state that patients with less advanced disease may benefit more from the treatment (11.8% and 20.6%, respectively). Private websites were less likely to refer to peer-reviewed literature (18.4% vs. 41.4%) and were more than 3 times less likely to mention lack of adequate evidence (13.2% vs. 48.2%). CONCLUSIONS Patients seeking online information regarding PRP therapy are vulnerable to websites presenting a narrow viewpoint of this treatment modality, putting emphasis on unsubstantiated benefits while disregarding potential drawbacks and concerns.

中文翻译：

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用于膝关节骨性关节炎的富含血小板的血浆：互联网营销和患者教育——对具有最大搜索引擎可见性的网站的内容评估。

目标 互联网越来越多地被公众用作获取健康相关信息的资源。我们试图确定关于膝骨关节炎的富血小板血浆 (PRP) 治疗在线可用信息的作者身份、内容和准确性。设计 筛选了来自 3 个主要在线搜索引擎（Google、Yahoo!、Bing）中的每一个的前 200 个搜索结果，最终审查了 181 个网站的内容，重点是特定声明，比较私人医生/团体和其他作者类型。结果 近 80% 的网站声称 PRP 注射治疗膝骨关节炎可以改善患者的疼痛。共有42.8%的私人网站和27个。6% 的非私人网站表示该程序可以延迟或消除未来手术的需要。只有少数人（11.6%）提到了成本，主要是非私人网站。两个网站组都不太可能提到 PRP 治疗不是终末期膝关节骨关节炎的首选治疗方法（7.9% 的私人网站和 17.2% 的非私人网站），或者说疾病较轻的患者可能会从 PRP 中获益更多治疗（分别为 11.8% 和 20.6%）。私人网站引用同行评议文献的可能性较小（18.4% 对 41.4%），提及缺乏足够证据的可能性要低 3 倍多（13.2% 对 48.2%）。结