CT-guided ozone/steroid therapy for the treatment of degenerative spinal disease--effect of age, gender, disc pathology and multi-segmental changes.

Introduction: Oxygen-ozone nucleolysis (ONL) is a new, minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of discogenic low back pain with or without radicular symptoms. The aim of the present study was to determine associations between the morphology of the basic disease, patient-specific factors and the outcome of the treatment.

Materials And Methods: Six hundred and twelve patients not responding to conservative therapy were divided into five groups (disc bulging, disc herniation, postoperative patients, osteochondrosis, others) and subjected to nucleolysis with ozone and to periradicular infiltration with steroids and local anaesthesia.