Therapeutic Efficacy of Ozone Injection into the Knee for the Osteoarthritis Patient along with Oral Celecoxib and Glucosamine.

INTRODUCTION

Suffering from osteoarthritis is prevalent among elderly patients so the use of intra-articular injection of medical ozone may well be the effective way to relieve their pain.

AIM

To evaluate the effect of intra-articular injection of medical ozone given into the knee of the osteoarthritis patients, and to compare it with taking celecoxib and glucosamine orally.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In the present study, 76 patients suffering from osteoarthritis were randomly assigned into two groups. In the ozone group, 20 ml ozone-oxygen mixture gas concentration of 20 μg/ml was injected into knee articular cavity and each patient took oral celecoxib and glucosamine hydrochloride. Patients in control group only took the celecoxib and glucosamine hydrochloride orally.Pain score and Lysholm knee score were measured prior to the injection (pretreatment) and at one, three, six weeks after the beginning of the treatment (posttreatment).

RESULTS

After the treatment, the pain intensity and function significantly improved in the two groups compared with the pretreatment (p<0.05). In the ozone group, three weeks after intervention, the pain score improved significantly when compared with the control group (p<0.05).After the treatment, the lysholm scores increased significantly (p<0.05), but in the ozone group, it improved faster.

CONCLUSION

Intra-articular injection of ozone plus oral celecoxib and glucosamine could significantly decrease pain intensity in patients with mild to moderate Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA), and improve their functional status early than oral celecoxib and glucosamine only.