Long-term effect of medical ozone in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the leng-term effect ofpercutaneous ozone injection into the intervertebral space for treatment of lumbar disc herniation. Methods A retrospective analysis of the clinical data was performed in 324 patients with lumbar disc herniation admitted in Zhujiang Hospital and Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University between April, 2000 and March, 2004. All the patients were treated with percutaneous ozone injection into the intervertebral space and followed up for no less than 3 years. The scores of the Japanese Orthopedics Association (JOA) and sciatica Visual Analog Scales (VAS) before and at the end of the follow-up were recorded and compared. The modified MacNab criteria were adopted for evaluation of the effect of the treatment. The patients' age, disease course, severity of disc herniation and type of herniation were also analyzed in relation to the therapeutic effect. Results Compared with the scores recorded before the operation, the average scores of JOA and VAS increased significantly at the end of the follow-up (6.3±1.4 vs 13.1±1.2 for JOA, P=0.0178;7.5±0.8 vs 2.1±0.3 for VAS, P=0.039), with JOA and VAS improvement rates of 78.2% and 70.4%, respectively. According to modified MacNab criteria, good therapeutic effect was achieved in 77.5% (251/234) of the cases, the patients' age, the disease course and severity of disc herniation showed significant impact on the therapeutic effect. More than one third of the patients (33.8%) with herniation of inclusion type experienced symptom relapse early after the treatment. Conclusion The 3-year follow-up data show that ozone treatment produces satisfactory long-term effect on lumbar disc herniation. The patient's age, disease course and severity of herniation are three important factors that affect the long-term therapeutic effect. Key words: Ozone; Long-term effect; Lumbar disc hemiation