Tratamiento de la compresión redicular con ozono terapia experiencia pionera en Bolivia / Radicular compression treatment with ozone: early experience in Bolivia

ABSTRACT

The application of OZONE (Oxygen-ozone) in the treatment of cervical and lumbar disc herniation is a therapy widely used in Europe specially in Italy, ours is the first experience in BOLIVIA We studied the clinical effect of oxygen-ozone treatment of disc herniation. Herniated disc is accompanied by mechanical factors and in the last years there is evidence that also exist biochemical or immunological alterations. A method allowing shrinkage of a herniated disc without an open surgical approach has been sought. Experiences on the spontaneous disappearance of disc fragments have demonstrated autoimmune responses with a chronic inflammatory reaction, and radicular pain has been shown to be mostly to release of toxic acids. The present knowledge shows that, pain caused by nerve root compression should be deemed a symptom of multifactor origin in which the neural and perineural inflammatory reaction and its biohumoral mediators play a major role, flanked by venous stasis due to mass effect on the perineural circulation. Nerve compression appears to play and adjuvant role by generating nerve conduction abnormalities due to fibre demyelization with a direct or indirect anoxic ischemic mechanism. As pain is multifactorial, ozone may also have a multifactorial pharmacological effect alleviating disc compression by shrinkage and triggering pro-fibrossing mechanism. Oxygen Ozone was administrated by percutaneous injection into the paravertebral region and/or into the intervertebral disc. We treated in BOLIVIA 120 patients from August 2003 to June 2005 with excellent and good results as success we obtained a rate of the 80- 85 percent.