Ozone therapy as complementary treatment for surgical infection: case report.

Abstract

Background: Infection is a serious surgical complication that increases significantly morbidity and mortality rates as well as health care expenses. Bacterial ever-growing resistance to antibiotics makes the treatment of such events even more troublesome. Objective: Report on a surgical infection case treated with ozone as a complementary therapy. Methods and Materials: Female, 65 years old, submitted to a complex surgical procedure for adult kyphotic deformity correction that presented with early post-surgical infection. The patient was treated with revision surgery and antibiotics that improved the condition but were unable to delete the infection. Ozone, in its gaseous form, was injected subcutaneously and paravertebraly twice weekly for three weeks. Results: After 3 weeks of treatment the wound healed completely and repeated visits and blood exams up to one year after the surgery did not show recurrence of infection. Conclusions: Although not a definite indication on validity of ozone therapy for surgical infections, the results of this case report indicate a new way that merits to be explored.