Oxygen-ozone therapy is used to treat patients with gonarthosis (initial and late), inflammatory disease due to overloading, patellar tendinitis, goosefoot bursitis of the knee, synovitis during inflammatory arthritis, bursitis, knee pain caused by joint cartilage degeneration due to femoral-rotular chondropathy, knee pain following surgery. The patient is placed in a sitting position with the knee in 90 deg. flexion. After local anesthesia, 15-20 cc of the ozone/ oxygen gas mixture is injected slowly at variable concentrations depending on the disease and in any case not more than 25 μg/ml. The patient is invited to perform some flexion-extension movements of the knee to better distribute the drug throughout the joint including the recesses.
Knee OA is a progressive condition with no cure nowadays. The treatment is focused on amelioration of symptoms. Knee OA is related to genetic, biological and biomechanical factors and recently to chronic inflammation.
There is a long time evidence (four decades of clinical use) of the use of Ozone on many diseases and especially on treating musculoskeletal disorders such as knee OA. Ozone is able to inhibit inflammatory cytokines, MMP (mineral metalloproteinases), NO (nitric oxide), PGs and to stimulate anti-inflammatory cytokines, growing factors, chondrocytes and stem cells.
Ozone diminishes inflammation and favours the trophism, vascularisation and repair of articular cartilage and subchondral bone. The action of Ozone over different targets on knee OA postulates it as a promising and wonderful therapeutic weapon capable to diminish pain, articular destruction and recover function and quality of life.