Conditions and procedures

ABI involves injection of your own blood to the pathological site in the soft tissue. It uses the healing properties of the blood in various soft tissue pathologies.

Blood is taken from a vein in the arm and is immediately injected to the pathological tissue before it clots. Dr Khullar performs these procedures under ultrasound guidance. The ABI injection generates inflammation in the tissue where the injection is done, which is usually the first step in healing. The growth factors in the platelets then augment the natural healing process of the tendon towards healing of the pathology.

The common conditions for which ABI is done are:

●Tennis Elbow
●Golfers Elbow
●Biceps Tendinopathy
●Achilles tendinopathy
●Patellar Tendinopathy
●Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction
●Hamstring Tendinopathy

In tendinopathy, it’s commonly done in dis-repair or the degenerative stage especially when there is a partial tear in the tendon.

Yes, the ABI procedure is done under local anesthetic control and as an outpatient procedure.

ABI is generally a very safe procedure. Since it is your own blood, so risk of rejection is virtually not present. However, you can still have some minor adverse reactions such as:

●Pain at the site of the injection- can persist for 1-2 days. You can use ice or pain medication for comfort
●You may need a walking aid after lower limb ABI injections
●Risk of infection is minimal. The injection is done after Aseptic cleaning of the skin. Injection procedure is avoided if you are sick or the local skin in the region of the injection is infected.
●You might need to modify your activities post injection and take 1-2 days off from work. Please consult Dr Khullar for a medical certificate if needed.

These can be started once you are comfortable. Generally it takes about one week post-injection for the exercises to be restarted. Rehab timings vary in ABI in different regions and different patients.

Usually only one injection is planned. The outcome of this injection is assessed over 4-6 weeks. A second injection is indicated if there is no or partial benefit from the fist ABI.

We would ask you to offload by partial weight bearing (with use of walking aid) for about 7 days post injections.

The above is a general advice for ABI. The changes with respect to ABI to different tendons will be discussed by Dr Khullar when you are booking the appointment.