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-2-O-3) 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-2-O-3 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-2-O-3 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 O-2-O-3 mixture treatment showed 3 beneficial long-term effect.