BACKGROUND Numerous techniques have been developed for the treatment of disc herniation. Oxygen-ozone (O2-O3) mixture therapy is a minimally invasive percutaneous treatment for disc herniation. OBJECTIVE The aim of the… Click to show full abstract
BACKGROUND Numerous techniques have been developed for the treatment of disc herniation. Oxygen-ozone (O2-O3) mixture therapy is a minimally invasive percutaneous treatment for disc herniation. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study is to investigate the 6-month efficacy and safety of O2-O3 mixture therapy in patients with cervical disc herniation (CDH) and chronic neck pain. STUDY DESIGN This is a cross-sectional, single-center study. SETTING The study was conducted from January 2012 to May 2016 on patients visiting Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital's pain clinic. METHODS Each patient was evaluated before the procedure (baseline) and at 2 weeks (W2), 6 weeks (W6), and 6 months (M6) after the procedure using the visual analog scale (VAS) and the Oswestry Disability Index scores. RESULTS A total of 44 patients with CDH underwent the same treatment with an O2-O3 mixture. Significant pain relief was observed compared with preoperative pain at W2, W6, and M6 according to patient self-evaluation (P = 0.01). The mean VAS score was 7.89 ± 1.13 before the procedure, 4.22 ± 1.62 at W2, 3.03 ± 1.66 at W6, and 2.27 ± 1.25 at the end of M6. No significant complications or side effects were reported during or after the procedure. LIMITATIONS Our study was conducted retrospectively, which resulted in problems obtaining follow-up data. In addition, this study was performed in a small patient group. CONCLUSION Based on our results, intradiscal injection of an O2-O3 mixture treatment showed a beneficial long-term effect. KEY WORDS Cervical disc herniation, chemonucleolysis, injection, intradiscal, oxygen-ozone mixture, percutaneous treatment.
               
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