Clinical and radiological outcome of arthrocentesis followed by autologous blood injection for treatment of chronic recurrent temporomandibular joint dislocation

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to evaluate the functional outcome and MRI findings of arthrocentsis followed by autologous blood injection (ABI) into the joint space for management of chronic recurrent TMJ dislocation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Total ten patients with bilateral chronic recurrent condylar dislocation were included in the study. Arthrocentesis of both TMJ was performed on each patient, followed by the injection of 2 ml of autologous blood into the superior joint compartment and 1 ml onto the outer surface of the joint capsule. Preoperative and postoperative assessment included; thorough history, clinical examination of TMJ, maximal mouth opening, frequency of dislocation, TMJ radiographs (open and closed mouth position), MRI, recurrence and presence of facial nerve paralysis. RESULTS: At the end of 3 months follow-up 8 patients (80%) had successful outcome with no further episodes of dislocation, whereas two patients reported with recurrence. Post-operative MRI showed significant improvement after ABI, compared to pre-operative MRI. There were no degenerative changes to the bony and soft tissue components of TMJ. CONCLUSIONS: ABI is a simple, safe, minimally invasive and cost-effective technique for treatment of chronic recurrent TMJ dislocation. MRI evaluation showed an improvement in the anatomical and spatial relationship of the osseous and soft tissue components of the TMJ. Key words:TMJ lavage, luxation, fibrosis, magnetic resonance imaging.