Ozone therapy to reduce pain in knee osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a chronic multifactorial disease characterized by progressive joint degeneration, pain and functional limitation. It is estimated that it affects more than 240 million people, with knee osteoarthritis being the most common. Recently, the use of ozone therapy has been proposed in these patients since it induces oxidative stress that increases antioxidants, local perfusion and oxygen supply. The objective of this work is to conduct a review on the effectiveness of ozone therapy to reduce pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis. A review was carried out following the PRISMA regulations. The databases of PubMed, Cinahl, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, Academic Search Complete, Lilacs, IBECS, CENTRAL, SciELO, and WOS were consulted. The Cochrane tool was used to assess the risk of bias. Ozone therapy is effective in reducing pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis. The total sample was 635 patients from a total of six studies. In all trials the treatment was administered once a week. However, the total duration ranged between 4 and 12 weeks. Regarding the parameters measured in all investigations, pain was analyzed using the visual analogue scale (VAS). Additionally, some studies looked at function, quality of life, flexion, effusion, and stiffness. Ozone therapy relieves the intensity and duration of pain, improves functionality and quality of life, and reduces the period of work disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis.