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Facet joint osteoarthritis is the most prevalent source of facet joint pain and represents a significant cause of low back pain. Oxygen-ozone therapy has been shown to have positive results in acute and chronic spinal degeneration diseases and it could be a safe and efficacious alternative to traditional facet joint conservative treatments. This review article explains the interventional facet joint management with ultrasound-guided oxygen-ozone therapy, providing an anatomy/sonoanatomy overview of lumbar facet joints and summarizing the potential mechanism of action of oxygen-ozone in the treatment of facet joint osteoarthritis, not yet fully understood.

Over the years, infiltrative oxygen-ozone therapy has shown clinical benefits in several musculoskeletal disorders, due to its potential analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and immunomodulatory effect. Ultrasonography is a safe, non-invasive imaging, easily available, and has the additional advantage of being real time for imaging and image-guided procedures of the musculoskeletal system. This review explains the numerous promising ways in which ultrasonography can be useful in oxygen-ozone therapeutic practices for musculoskeletal disorders, in order to improve safety and accuracy of treatment.

This pilot study explores the effects of a post-operative physical exercise program on the quality of life (QoL) and functional and nutritional parameters of patients that underwent laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery, compared to usual care alone. The intervention group (IG) attended a 2-month-long supervised and combined exercise–training program during the post-operative period. Both IG and control group (CG) participated in the QoL, functional, and nutritional assessments before exercise training (T0), 2 months after the beginning of the exercise (end of treatment) (T1), and 2 (T2) and 4 (T3) months from the end of treatment. Eleven patients with colorectal cancer that underwent laparoscopic surgery were enrolled (six intervention, five control). The IG showed significant improvements compared to the CG in “Physical functioning” (PF2) (p = 0.030), “Cognitive functioning” (CF) (p = 0.018), and “Fatigue” (FA) (p = 0.017) of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life-C30 Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) at T1, in SMWT (p = 0.022) at T1, in PF2 (p = 0.018) and FA (p = 0.045) of EORTC QLQ-C30 at T2, in phase angle (PhA) of bioelectrical impedance analysis (p = 0.022) at T3. This pilot study shows that a post-operative, combined, and supervised physical exercise program may have positive effects in improving the QoL, functional capacity, and nutritional status in patients that undergo laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery.