Effect of Arthrocentesis on Symptomatic Osteoarthritis of the Temporomandibular Joint and Analysis of the Effect of Preoperative Clinical and Radiologic Features

Purpose To evaluate the long-term outcome of arthrocentesis in patients with symptomatic temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osteoarthritis that was unresponsive to nonsurgical interventions. Materials and Methods Seventy-nine patients (83 joints) with symptomatic TMJ osteoarthritis that had not responded to nonsurgical interventions and who underwent arthrocentesis were included in this study. Demographic, clinical, and radiologic data, including assessment of pain, dysfunction, improvement, and satisfaction, and maximal mouth opening were analyzed. Results The analysis included 67 female patients (84.8%) and 12 male patients (15.2%), 13 to 70 years old, who were followed for 56.9 ± 6.7 months. Sixty-four (81%) reacted favorably to arthrocentesis. For these patients, maximal mouth opening increased from 26.3 ± 0.8 to 39.24 ± 0.9 mm (P <.001). Pain and dysfunction scores decreased from 6.92 ± 0.2 to 2.36 ± 0.3 (P <.001) and from 7.37 ± 0.2 to 2.24 ± 0.4 (P <.001), respectively. Overall score for patient satisfaction with arthrocentesis was 8.78 ± 0.3. The procedure had no lasting complications. Remarkably, the severity of preoperative pain, dysfunction, and range of motion and of radiographic changes did not correlate with the outcome of arthrocentesis. The severity of preoperative or postoperative signs and symptoms was not correlated with the severity of radiographic changes. Conclusions For most patients, arthrocentesis offers long-term favorable outcomes for symptomatic TMJ osteoarthritis that has not responded to nonsurgical treatments and otherwise would have required surgical arthroplasty. Severity of preoperative clinical and computerized tomographic findings is not predictive for the success of arthrocentesis. In addition, the lack of correlation between the clinical and radiologic findings negates the commonly used Wilkes classification, which presumes that the clinical signs and symptoms deteriorate together with radiologic changes.