Fluoroscopic-guided intradiscal oxygen-ozone injection therapy for thoracolumbar intervertebral disc herniations in dogs.

BACKGROUND To investigate the effect of oxygen-ozone (O2-O3) injection on thoracolumbar intervertebral disc herniation (IVDH) in dogs. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ten herniated discs of five dogs were treated with percutaneous injection of an O2-O3 gas mixture with O3 concentration of 32 microg/microl intradiscally (1.5-2 microl) under fluoroscopy guidance. RESULTS Five weeks after treatment, the mean size of herniated discs was measured by computed tomography and showed significant reduction of disc volumes in all animals (8.8%+/-3.82%). The degree of shrinkage was negatively linearly correlated with disc mineralization (correlation coefficient=-0.636) and statistically significant at p<0.05. All five dogs regained their gait function and none recurred. CONCLUSION We conclude that intradiscal O2-O3 injection can decompress affected discs by disc shrinkage.