This study evaluated the efficacy of arthroscopic lysis and lavage in patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) symptoms and generalized osteoarthritis (GOA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Twenty-three GOA patients and 23 RA patients were evaluated after 1 year.
Seventeen of 23 patients (74%) in the RA group improved after arthroscopic lysis and lavages compared with 10 of 23 (43%) of the GOA patients. Lateral joint tenderness, crepitation, maximal opening, and maximal protrusion showed most improvement in the RA group.
On the basis of this short-term follow-up study, arthroscopic lysis and lavage seem to provide an effective treatment for TMJ pain and dysfunction in RA patients but not in GOA patients.