Six-Month Results of Cervical Intradiscal Oxygen-Ozone Mixture Therapy on Patients with Neck Pain: Preliminary Findings.

Background: Numerous techniques have been developed for the treatment of disc herniation. Oxygen-ozone (O-O) 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 O-O 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 O-O 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.