Platelet-Rich Plasma for Cutaneous Wound Healing: Clinical Outcomes Across Wound Etiologies

Background: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an autologous biologic therapy containing concentrated platelets and growth factors involved in angiogenesis, inflammation modulation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and re-epithelialization. Although researchers have investigated PRP across multiple wound types, differences in wound etiology, PRP formulation, and application technique complicate clinical interpretation. This review aims to characterize reported PRP healing outcomes across dermatologically relevant cutaneous wound etiologies. Methods: A literature search of PubMed, Embase, and SCOPUS (2020-2026) identified clinical studies and reviews evaluating platelet-derived therapies for cutaneous wound healing. We included studies that reported clinical healing outcomes after PRP treatment of cutaneous wounds. Studies without clinical wound-healing outcomes or evaluating noncutaneous tissue repair were excluded. Included studies were categorized as diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, pressure ulcers, mixed chronic cutaneous ulcers, burns, or skin graft-related wounds. Healing outcomes were descriptively synthesized by etiology. Results: Across chronic cutaneous wounds, PRP improved wound closure and wound-area reduction compared with conventional care. Evidence was strongest for DFUs, where PRP increased healing rates, shortened healing time, and accelerated ulcer-area reduction; several analyses also reported reduced amputation and hospitalization. In VLUs, topical platelet gel and injectable PRP improved healing scores and granulation tissue. In pressure ulcers, PRP alone or with negative-pressure wound therapy improved wound characteristics, shortened healing time, reduced pain, and decreased complications. Meta-analyses of mixed chronic wounds demonstrated increased complete closure, including an odds ratio of 5.32 in an analysis of 2,198 wounds. PRP did not generally increase infection or adverse-event rates. Burn and skin graft-related studies demonstrated accelerated epithelialization, improved graft uptake, and reduced postoperative pain. Treatment effects varied by PRP formulation, concentration, administration route, wound characteristics, and follow-up. Conclusion: PRP demonstrates potential as an adjunctive regenerative therapy across multiple cutaneous wound etiologies, with the most consistent evidence supporting its use in chronic ulcers, particularly DFUs. Improvements are most consistently observed in wound closure, wound-area reduction, and healing time, with additional benefits reported for pain, hospitalization, and amputation risk. Heterogeneity in PRP preparation, dosing, administration, and outcome reporting remains a major barrier to standardized clinical application. Future dermatologic wound-healing studies should prioritize standardized PRP protocols and etiology-specific outcomes to better define optimal candidates and treatment strategies.