Abstract
Background: To investigate the effect of oxygen-ozone (O2-O3) injection on thoracolumbar intervertebral disc herniation (IVDH) in dogs. Materials and Methods: Ten herniated discs of five dogs were treated with percutaneous injection of an O2-O3 gas mixture with O3 concentration of 32 μg/μl intradiscally (1.5-2 μl) under fluoroscopy guidance. Results: Five weeks after treatment, the mean size of herniated discs was measured by computed tomography and showed significant reduction of disc volumes in all animals (8.8%±3.82%). The degree of shrinkage was negatively linearly correlated with disc mineralization (correlation coefficient=-0.636) and statistically significant at p<0.05. All five dogs regained their gait function and none recurred. Conclusion: We conclude that intradiscal O2-O3 injection can decompress affected discs by disc shrinkage.
Footnotes
- Received January 22, 2007.
- Revision received March 14, 2007.
- Accepted March 28, 2007.
- Copyright © 2007 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved