Treatment of temporomandibular joint ankylosis by gap arthroplasty.

PURPOSE The purpose of this paper is to show that gap arthroplasty improve mouth opening when treating TMJ ankylosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS Eight patients with TMJ ankylosis were treated by gap arthroplasty. The patients were evaluated by at least twenty-four months (minimum 24 and maximum 48 months). RESULTS Of the eight patients (eleven joints), five (62.5%) had unilateral involvement and three patients (37.5%) had bilateral involvement. The mean age was 20 years -/+ 9 (range 3 to 30 years). The mean maximal incisal opening (MIO) in the preoperative period was 9.25 -/+ 6.41 mm and in the postoperative period it was 29.88 -/+ 4.16 mm. The complication of temporary facial nerve paresis was encountered in two patients (25%). No recurrence was observed in our series. CONCLUSIONS Trauma was the major cause of tempomandibular joint ankylosis in our sample. Gap arthroplasty showed good results when treating TMJ ankylosis.