What Researchers Did
Canadian researchers reported a case of a 34-year-old man with chronic neck pain who suffered multifocal strokes after cervical ozone injections, with arterial gas visible on CT angiography in the right vertebral artery.
What They Found
The patient developed ataxia, aphasia, hemiparesis, and eye movement problems after his last ozone injection. CT angiography confirmed intra-arterial gas. Multiple posterior circulation infarcts were seen on MRI. HBOT was part of the emergency management.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
This Canadian case illustrates the serious risk of arterial gas embolism from paravertebral ozone injections -- a procedure promoted by some alternative medicine practitioners in Canada. Canadian patients seeking ozone therapy for neck pain should be aware of this potentially fatal complication, and Canadian EDs should recognize and treat it with HBOT.
Canadian Relevance
This is a Canadian case report from a Canadian center, illustrating HBOT use for arterial gas embolism -- an OHIP-covered indication in Ontario.
Study Limitations
A single case report cannot quantify the risk of gas embolism from ozone injections overall; larger surveillance data would be needed to estimate true complication rates.