Notícias

Viscosupplementation (VS) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) aims to treat temporomandibular
dysfunction (TMD) by stimulating synovial cells to improve intracapsular lubrication. The purpose
of the present study was to assess a VS protocol planned with the aid of cone-beam computed
tomography (CBCT) and checked by ultrasonography (US). The study was carried out in 3 stages. The
frst was to check the correspondence between the proposed facial reference points and the osseous
components of the joint by means of CBCT. In the second stage, the upper and lower compartments
of 20 TMJs of fresh frozen cadavers were injected with coloured liquids, and the accuracy of the
technique was confrmed by dissecting the anatomical specimens. The third stage consisted of VS
in 10 patients (20 TMJs), with real-time verifcation of the location of the needle tip by means of
ultrasonography. CBCT confrmed the correct locations of the marked points used in the proposed VS
protocol. The dissections showed that 13 of the 14 injections efectively reached the upper and lower
compartments. The location of the needle tip was efectively verifed by ultrasonography, confrming
the correct access to both compartments. The proposed protocol was efective for accessing the upper
and lower compartments of the TMJ. The evaluated protocol proved to be accurate, safe and clinically
reproducible means of VS in the upper and lower compartments of the TMJ.