INTRADISCAL INJECTION OF OXYGEN-OZONE GAS MIXTURE FOR THE TREATMENT OF CONTAINED CERVICAL DISC HERNIATIONS

A. Alexandre¹, S. John² and A.M. Alexandre²

¹EU.N.I. European Neurosurgical Institute, Treviso, Italy;
²Institue of Radiology, Catholic University, Policlinico Gemelli, Roma

Correspondence to:
Dr Alberto Alexandre M.D.
EU.N.I. European Neurosurgical Institute,
Treviso, Italy
e-mail: xdreuni@gmail.com

Received:  02 May 2023 Accepted: 08 June 2023

2038-4106(2023) Copyright © by BIOLIFE This publication and/or article is for individual use only and may not be further reproduced without written permission from the copyright holder. Unauthorized reproduction may result in financial and other penalties. Disclosure: all authors report no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

ABSTRACT

For disc herniations, open surgical approaches are reduced since new percutaneous methods allowing shrinkage of the disc and improvement of the radicular function are gaining interest. Studies on the spontaneous disappearance of disc fragments have demonstrated autoimmune responses with a chronic inflammatory reaction. Also, radicular pain is due mainly to biochemical mechanisms. Researchers in different fields surprisingly noticed that a brief, calculated oxidative stress by ozone administration might correct a persistent imbalance due to excessive, chronic oxidative injury. Oxygen-ozone gas injection in painful patients has a dramatic effect on clinical symptoms. On these bases, the intradiscal injection of oxygen-ozone gas has been conceived. We report the treatment on a series of patients affected by cervical disc pathology, treated by intradiscal injection of an oxygen-ozone gas mixture. The effects both on pain and on radicular dysfunction are impressive. The morphological effect of the treatment was also evaluated by pathological examination.

KEYWORDS: intradiscal injection, contained disc herniation, oxygen-ozone, tinnitus