G-2204

Combined Intra-articular Orthokine and Ozone Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial

 Farzaneh Hajrezaei ¹ ℗, Reza Aminnejad ² ©   

 
Abstract

Introduction: Osteoarthritis, the most common adult joint disease, causes cartilage damage, pain, stiffness, and reduced mobility, primarily in weight-bearing joints like the knee, hip, and spine. Treatment focuses on pain relief, reducing inflammation, and improving function through medications, physiotherapy, intra-articular injections (e.g., ozone and orthokine), or surgery in severe cases. Lifestyle changes, weight loss, and muscle strengthening help manage symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate the combined effect of orthokine and ozone injections on osteoarthritis treatment outcomes and patient satisfaction, as their simultaneous impact has not been thoroughly investigated, highlighting the need for further research into their efficacy. 3. Methods and Materials: This was a double-blind, randomized clinical trial. 120 people with knee osteoarthritis were randomly divided into two groups of 60 people: Group 1: Including 60 people under blockine therapy plus ozone. Group 2: Including 60 people under orthokine therapy plus placebo. The treatment protocol of the first group consisted of orthokine with 4 injections of 2 ml including IL-1Ra on the first, seventh, fourteenth, and twenty-first days of treatment, and ozone including 3 injections of 10 ml of ozone (30 g/ml) + 5 ml of 1% lidocaine performed on the knee area on the first day of treatment, one month after the first injection, and two months later. The treatment protocol of the second group consisted of orthokine therapy plus placebo in three doses. Pain was measured using the WOMAC questionnaire before treatment, and 1, 3, and 6 months after intensive treatment. It should be noted that in this study, the patient and evaluator were blinded to the study. 4. Results: In this study, both Orthokine + Ozone and Orthokine treatments significantly reduced osteoarthritis indices. The mean WOMAC score in the Orthokine + Ozone group was lower at all times, with a value of 6.4 ± 2.4 after 6 months, compared to 8.2 ± 2.3 in the Orthokine group (P=0.000). The reduction in stiffness was also greater in the Orthokine + Ozone group (1.1 ± 0.8 vs. 1.8 ± 1.0, P=0.000). Additionally, age and gender analyses showed no significant differences between groups (P0.05), indicating that the treatments were comparable. 5. Conclusion and Discussion: Both Orthokine and Orthokine + Ozone treatments effectively reduced osteoarthritis symptoms, with no significant differences due to similar therapeutic mechanisms and study limitations. Larger, more detailed studies are needed to explore additive effects or potential differences.

Keywords: Knee osteoarthritis, Orthokin therapy, Ozone therapy