[The contribution of arthroscopic treatment in temporomandibular disk-condyle displacements]

We report a prospective study of thirty four therapeutic temporomandibular arthroscopies that were done during a 24 months period for patients with debilitating joint disorders (mainly disc displacements with or without reduction) who had not responded to no-invasive treatment. The technics used were lysis and lavage with prediscal section and retrodiscal coagulation. Analysis of the results indicated subjective lessening of pain in 71% of cases, noise in 78% (with objective evidence of disappearance of noise in 29%), jaw opening in 94% (mean 9.4 mm) and diet in 97% (mean 9.4 mm). In jaw opening, improvement was highly significant, compared with the preoperative results, p < 0.01. We conclude that temporomandibular arthroscopy is safe and indicated in disc displacements and joint luxation if medical treatment has failed.