title: The clinical efficacy of the local, deep insufflation of an oxygen-ozone mixture in the prevention and treatment of infections in the locomotor system.
abstract: Background. Ozone therapy - i.e. the treatment of patients by a mixture of oxygen and ozone - has been used for many years as a method ancillary to basic treatment, especially in those cases in which traditional treatment methods do not give satisfactory results, e.g. skin loss in non-healing wounds, ulcers, pressure sores, fistulae, etc.<br /> Material and methods. In the Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Department of the Medical Faculty No. 2 and the Department of the Orthopedics and Traumatology of the Locomotor System at the Medical Academy of Warsaw in the period from January 2000 until November 2001, 49 patients with extensive injuries to the locomotor system and septic complications after surgical procedures were treated with ozone. The ozone therapy was administered using an authorial technique of deep ozone application. Two groups of patients were treated: posttraumatic patients at risk for primary deep infections (e.g. open fractures without skin losses) and patients with declared postoperative infections in the locomotor system. The first group involved 31 patients; the second group, 18.<br /> Results. In the first group, three patients had septic complications despite mixed treatment, including one case of osteomyelitis. In the second group, all the patients experienced much faster than normal wound healing with inhibition of septic processes. In two cases, the septic process was reactivated after 6 and 9 months respectively, and these patients are still undergoing treatment.<br /> Conclusions. Our data confirm the advantages resulting from the deep application of ozone in the prevention and combined treatment for septic complications in the locomotor system. Our technique of deep ozone application makes it possible to reduce the risk of posttraumatic infections and promotes quicker healing of post-surgical complications and chronic septic infections. This method also lowers the cost of antibiotic therapy and is sometimes the only available auxiliary technique to support surgical procedures.
authors.affiliation: Klinika Ortopedii i Rehabilitacji, II Wydział Lekarski, Akademia Medyczna, Warszawa.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Białoszewski
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kowalewski