Resumen

CALUNGA FERNANDEZ, José Luis et al. Combined ozone therapy in the treatment of the patient with lumbar herniated disc: preliminary study. Rev Cubana Invest Bioméd [online]. 2007, vol.26, n.1. ISSN 0864-0300.

The effect of ozone therapy by rectal or intramuscular route (paravertebral) on clinical variables and imaging findings of patients with lumbar herniated disc was studied. It is known that the lumbar herniated disc causes low back pain and, in many cases, disables the patient becoming an important health problem in the current world. In spite of the different therapy schemes (conservative and surgical) used for the approach of the patient with herniated disc, they fail many times. Taking into account, on the other hand, the properties of the ozone therapy on the oxygen metabolism and on inflammation mediators, our objective was to evaluate the effect of ozone therapy on the quality of life in patients with lumbar herniated disc. To develop this study, it was used a sample of 37 patients with lumbar herniated disc. The muscle strength and the degree of osteotendinous reflectivity, as well as the pain intensity before and after the ozone therapy were measured by scale. Imaging studies were conducted before and after having concluded the therapeutic scheme. The results showed that the ozone therapy had a benefitial effect on the studied clinical variables in these patients, besides influencing significantly on the improvement from the imaging point of view.

Palabras clave : Herniated disc; paravertebral; ozone therapy; osteotendinous reflectivity.