Ankylosis of the temporomandibular joint in pediatric patients

Introduction: While surgical interventions for temporomandibular joint (TMJ) ankylosis are well-documented, there is lack of consensus regarding the ideal approach in pediatric patients. Surgical interventions include gap arthroplasty, interpositional arthroplasty, or total joint reconstruction. Methods: A systematic review of PubMed (Jan 1, 1990 – Jan 1, 2017) and Scopus (Jan 1, 1990 – Jan 1, 2017) was performed and included studies in English with at least one patient under the age of 18 diagnosed with TMJ ankylosis who underwent surgical correction. Primary outcomes of interest included surgical modality, preoperative maximum interincisal opening (MIO) (MIOpreop), postoperative MIO (MIOpostop), DMIO (DMIO ¼ MIOpostop – MIOpreop), and complications. Results: Twenty-four case series/reports with 176 patients and 227 joints were included. By independent sample t tests MIOpostop (mm) was greater for gap arthroplasty (30.18) compared to reconstruction (27.47) (t ¼ 4.9, P ¼ 0.043), interpositional arthroplasty (32.87) compared to reconstruction (t ¼ 3.25, P ¼ 0.002), but not for gap compared to interpositional (t ¼ 1.9, P ¼ 0.054). DMIO (mm) was greater for gap arthroplasty (28.67) compared to reconstruction (22.24) (t ¼ 4.2, P ¼ 0.001), interpositional arthroplasty (28.33) compared to reconstruction (t ¼ 3.27, P ¼ 0.002), but not for interpositional compared to gap (t ¼ 0.29, P ¼ 0.33). Weighted-average followup time was 28.37 months (N ¼ 164). 4 of 176 (2.27%) patients reported development of re-ankylosis. There was no significant difference in occurrence of re-ankylosis between interventions. Conclusions: Given the technical ease of gap arthroplasty and nonsignificant differences in DMIO, MIOpostop, or occurrence of re-ankylosis between gap and interpositional arthroplasty, gap arthroplasty should be considered for primary ankylosis repair in pediatric patients, with emphasis on postoperative physiotherapy to prevent recurrent-ankylosis.