Autologous blood injection to the temporomandibular joint: magnetic resonance imaging findings

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the autologous blood injection (ABI) for chronic recurrent temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dislocation using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Materials and Methods ABI was applied to 14 patients who had chronic recurrent TMJ dislocation. MRIs of the patients were taken and compared before and one month after the injection. Results All of the patients had no dislocations of their TMJs on clinical examination one month after the injection. In the pre-injection, unilateral or bilateral TMJ dislocations were observed on MRIs in all patients. One month after the injection, TMJ dislocations were not observed in MRI evaluation of any patients. A significant structural change that caused by ABI was not observed. Conclusion The procedure was easy to perform and it caused no foreign body reaction. However, it was unclear how the procedure prevented the dislocation.

The Effect of Chronic Temporomandibular Joint Dislocation: Frequency on the Success of Autologous Blood Injection

“…Considering the possible occurrence of complications, such as facial nerve injury, non-surgical methods should be used before resorting to surgery whenever possible [8,9]. Unfortunately, non-surgical treatment methods are not useful in all cases [8].…”

“…Many surgical and non-surgical methods for treating chronic recurrent TMJ dislocation have been described [8,9]. The surgical treatment of TMJ dislocation includes complications, such as altered sensation, facial nerve injury, and infection [1,8].…”

“…Although ABI has not gained much popularity in the management of chronic TMJ dislocation [10], many clinicians have reported successful results [1,4,8,9]. Candirli et al [9] stated that pain resulting from the traumatic effects of ABI caused patients to be reluctant to open their mouths to the critical size necessary for dislocation to occur, which allowed the joint to become more stable. In a recent animal study, investigators reported no structural changes or histopathological effects of the procedure [11].…”

“…However, studies have not evaluated ABI in patients with chronic TMJ dislocation in terms of the severity or frequency of dislocation [1,4,8,9]. In addition, the reasons for ABI failure have not been identified.…”

“…Autologous blood injection (ABI) is a non-surgical, conservative method of treating chronic TMJ dislocation [1,8,9]. Although ABI has not gained much popularity in the management of chronic TMJ dislocation [10], many clinicians have reported successful results [1,4,8,9].…”