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Severe temporomandibular dysfunction and joint destruction after intra-articular injection of triamcinolone
C Schindler1, L Paessler, U Eckelt
1Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical Faculty, University of Technology, Dresden, Germany. christoph.schindler@mailbox.tu-dresden.de
Background:
Steroid injections into joints are frequently used to control symptomatic pain. Risks associated with intra-articular steroid injections are not well documented.
Methods:
We report the case of a 29-year-old woman who was referred to a dental surgeon because of a suspected relationship between persisting chronic back pain and an arthrosis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ).
Results:
The dental surgeon diagnosed capsulitis of the right TMJ and injected 40 mg triamcinolone into the joint. Within 4 months the patient developed progressive pain and trismus of the right TMJ and the intra-articular injection was repeated. An occlusal splint slightly improved the patients' symptoms but induced crepitus. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a disk dislocation in the right TMJ and severe necrosis of the condyle. The patient had persisting pain and ankylosis. Surgical restoration of the TMJ revealed a bony apposition in the fossa deformed with the socket of the joint, extensive medial erosion of the condyle and complete destruction of the disk.
Conclusion:
This case report supports earlier observations that intra-articular glucocorticoid injections, if used in a wrong way, may cause severe destruction of a joint.
