Key Takeaway
Ozone therapy significantly reduces pain and improves function in knee osteoarthritis, with intra-articular injections showing the strongest evidence among delivery methods.
Summary
This umbrella review synthesized findings from multiple systematic reviews evaluating ozone therapy for knee osteoarthritis (OA). The authors assessed both efficacy outcomes (pain reduction, functional improvement) and safety profiles across different ozone delivery methods.
The analysis found consistent evidence that ozone therapy — particularly intra-articular injections — provides significant pain relief and functional improvement in knee OA patients compared to controls. The treatment demonstrated a favorable safety profile, with adverse events being generally mild and self-limiting.
However, the authors noted that the overall quality of the included systematic reviews was variable, and many of the underlying primary studies had methodological limitations including small sample sizes and inconsistent outcome measures. While the direction of evidence supports ozone therapy as a beneficial adjunct for knee OA, the authors call for higher-quality randomized controlled trials to strengthen the evidence base.