INTRA-ARTICULAR INJECTION OF CORTICOSTEROIDS MIXED WITH LOCAL ANAESTHETIC FOR INTERNAL DERANGEMENT OF TEMPOROMANDIBULAR JOINT (DISC DISPLACEMENT WITHOUT REDUCTION)

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the mean change in pain and mouth opening after intra-articular corticosteroid injection mixed with local anesthetic in patients of temporomandibular joint internalderangement (disc displacement without reduction).Materials and Methods: A Quasi-experimental study was conducted at the Oral and MaxillofacialSurgery Department, Armed Forces Institute of Dentistry (AFID), Rawalpindi; from February2016 to December 2019. Patients of either gender, aged between 16-70 years, presenting withdisc displacement without reduction were included in the study. Intra-articular injection of corticosteroids mixed with local anesthetic was administered into the aff ected joint. Pin using a Visualanalog scale (VAS) and maximum mouth opening (MMO)using a vernier caliper were measuredin every patient before and one week after the intra-articular injection. Data were entered in thestatistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 22 for analysis.Results: A total of 107 patients were included in the study with a mean age of 30.5 ±6.92 years(range 17 to 42 years). The mean pre-injection VAS score for pain was 6.29±1.06 which decreasedsignifi cantly to 3.46±1.07at at one week following injection (p=<0.001) with a mean decreaseof 2.83±1.03. This improvement in VAS score with injection was signifi cant across all age, gender, educational and occupational groups. The mean pre-injection MMO was 28.76±4.20 whichincreased signifi cantly to 38.89±3.88at at one week following injection (p=<0.001) with a meanincrease of 10.0±3.33.