TREATMENT OF RHIZARTHROSIS WITH OXYGEN-OZONE THERAPY: OUR EXPERIENCE

M. Bonetti¹, G. Bragaglio², G. Guarino², I. Marchina², G.M. Ottaviani³, M. Moretti² and G. Tabaracci⁴

¹Department of Neuroradiology, Istituto Clinico Città di Brescia, Brescia, Italy;
²Oberdan Specialistic Clinic, Brescia, Italy;
³Emergency and Urgency Department, Spedali Civili di Brescia, Brescia, Italy;
⁴San Rocco Specialistic Clinic, Montichiari, Brescia, Italy

*Correspondence to:
Matteo Bonetti, MD
Department of Neuroradiology,
Istituto Clinico Città di Brescia,
Via Gualla, 15,
25128 Brescia, Italy
e-mail: dottorbonetti@gmail.com

Received: 29 March 2023 Accepted: 02 May  2023

ISSN: 1973-6401 Copyright © by Lab Publishers (2023) This publication and/or article is for individual use only and may not be further reproduced without written permission from the copyright holder. Unauthorized reproduction may result in financial and other penalties. Disclosure: All authors report no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

ABSTRACT

In recent years, the number of reports on the use of oxygen-ozone therapy for treating acute and chronic inflammatory joint disease has been constantly increasing. In this study, we report our experience in the treatment of rhizarthrosis. From March 2018 to February 2019, 27 patients (21 females and 6 males aged 58 to 79 years, mean age 67.8 years were enrolled. They were affected by rhizarthrosis. The diagnosis was confirmed by clinical examination and radiographic findings from standard metacarpal trapezius joint radiograms. Of the 27 treated patients, the clinical result was excellent in 16 (59%), in 5 it was satisfactory (19%), while in the remaining 6 no clinical benefit was obtained (22%). Although our series is currently limited to only 27 patients, we believe oxygen-ozone therapy in the treatment of metacarpal trapezius rhizarthrosis represents a valid therapeutic option instead of the use of drugs such as NSAIDs and/or steroids, especially in the first phase of the disease.

KEYWORDS: rhizarthrosis, thumb, osteoarthritis, trapeziometacarpal,  joint