Ahmad Liaquat, Arun Kumar Shah, Nabeela Riaz.
Auricular Cartilage Interposition Arthroplasty in Recurrent Temporomandibular Joint Ankylosis in Pediatric patients.
J Islamabad Med Dent Coll Jan ;10(1):9-14.

Background: Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) ankylosis in early childhood can lead to disturbances in growth, facial asymmetry and difficulties in eating as well as in breathing.  The objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of auricular cartilage as an interpositional material after gap arthroplasty in pediatric patients with temporomandibular joint ankylosis in maintaining the achieved postoperative mouth opening. Material and Methods: This prospective study was conducted at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of King Edward Medical University, Lahore, from 1st January 2019 to 30th November 2019. Thirty patients, aged 5 to 15 years with clinical and radiological diagnosis of TMJ ankylosis were included in the study. TMJ ankylotic mass was removed, the gap was created and interposition of auricular cartilage graft was done in these patients. Mouth opening was measured as a distance between the incisal edges of mandibular central incisors to maxillary central incisors using the scale. Preoperative and postoperative mouth opening was noted and compared using the paired t-test. Results: Among the thirty patients, 19 were male and 11 were female. The mean (±SD) age of patients was 9.23±3.23 years (age range 5 to 15 years). The mean preoperative mouth opening (T1) was 7.3±3.1 mm, while the mean postoperative mouth opening (T2) was 29.2±3.3 mm. The mean interincisal distance was 29.0 mm (range 21 mm to 35 mm). The mean difference in pre- and postoperative mouth opening (T2-T1) was 21.6 ± 5 mm. Conclusions: Autogenous auricular cartilage graft is an efficient and reliable interpositional material for achieving early postoperative mouth opening in TMJ ankylosis patients.

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