Effects of joint irrigation combined with ozone injection on bone metabolism, inflammatory factors, and joint function in knee osteoarthritis

Joint irrigation combined with ozone injection shows good efficacy in the treatment of KOA, and could effectively relieve the clinical symptoms of patients, improve their bone metabolism indexes, and help the recovery of knee joint function.

To explore the effects of joint irrigation combined with ozone injection on bone metabolism, inflammatory factors, and joint function in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Method: In this retrospective study, a total of 132 KOA patients admitted to No. 215 Hospital of Shaanxi Nuclear Industry from October 2019 to July 2021 were enrolled. Among them, 62 patients received arthroscopic irrigation alone were assigned into a control group, and the remaining 70 patients who received arthroscopic irrigation combined with ozone injection were assigned into an observation group. Therapeutic efficacy and adverse reactions during the treatment were compared in the two groups. Bone metabolism, inflammatory factor levels and joint function of patients before and after treatment were observed; patients were further divided into a good prognosis group and a poor prognosis group regarding their prognosis. Multivariate analysis was performed to explore the independent risk factors affecting prognosis.

After treatment, compared to the control group, the total effective rate of the observation group was higher (P<0.05), and there was no notable difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P>0.05). The bone metabolism indexes, osteocalcin (OC) and osteoprotegerin (OPG), in the observation group were also significantly higher (P<0.05), while the level of nuclear transcription factor κB receptor activator ligand (RANKL) in the observation group was markedly lower. The inflammation level in the observation group was lower (P<0.05). Lysholm score in the observation group was strikingly higher (P<0.05), while its Western Ontario McMaster (WOMAC) score and visual analogue scale (VAS) were lower (P<0.05). The observation group had a lower rate of poor prognosis (P<0.05). Age (OR: 1.786, 95% CI: 1.347-2.370), disease duration (OR: 1.132, 95% CI: 1.002-1.279), VAS after treatment (OR: 2.316, 95% CI: 1.089-4.925), and post-treatment IL-6 (OR: 1.186, 95% CI: 1.017-1.382) were all independent risk factors for poor prognosis.