Role of Arthrocentesis in the Management of Acute Closed Lock of TM Joint: A Pilot study

The following study was conducted in Meenakshi Ammal Dental College on 32 patients. The objective of our study was to assess the efficacy of arthrocentesis for the management of acute closed lock of TMJ. All patients presented with a history of sudden and persistent difficulty in mouth opening and associated TMJ pain. A total of 27 female and 5 male patients were treated using arthrocentesis and lavage under local anesthesia. Patients were assessed for pain and jaw function using visual analogue scales, VAS I (Fig. 4b), VAS II (Fig. 4c), respectively and mouth opening MMO (Fig. 4a) for a period of 6 months. Our results showed satisfactory relief in pain and improved mouth opening in 30 patients. The results proved that arthrocentesis is a very useful technique for treatment of acute closed lock of TMJ. However to arrive at a definitive conclusion a long term evaluation is required.