We describe our series of 182 patients with low back pain of different origin treated by paraspinal injection of O-2-O-3 mixture from November 1996 to May 2000. Patients were divided retrospectively into three groups according to etiopathogenesis: group I, 130 patients with "pure" disc-root compression; group II, 27 patients with radiculopathy caused by spinal surgery; group III, 25 patients with other vertebral disease (stenosis, arthrosis, multiple degenerative disc diseases, vertebral instability, etc) associated with disc-root compression. Before enrolment, all patients had received various conservative treatments (drugs, kinesiatrics, etc) with poor results after at least two months. Patients with "pure" disc-root compression presented low back pain without major neurological deficits. Outcome of treatment was assessed after therapy and at least three months Inter by clinical examination and subjective evaluation on a visual analogue scale. Excellent results were obtained in group I (complete resolution or marked reduction of symptoms) in 42% of cases (55 patients), good results (major reduction of symptoms with outcome well appreciated) in 27% (35 patients), little or no benefit in 31% (40 patients, half of whom had undergone endoscopic or microsurgical discectomy). Results were not as good among group II patients where positive results (excellent - good) were obtained in 44% (12 patients) and 36% (9 patients) respectively. Oxygen-ozone therapy is a valid alternative treatment, especially in low back pain caused by disc-root compression. It is also valid in post-surgical radiculopathies, but the success rate is lower due to the well known difficulty of treating these diseases Therapy is less effective in patients with stenosis or other associated vertebral disease.
