Rationale for early versus late intervention with arthroscopy for treatment of inflammatory/degenerative temporomandibular joint disorders.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to determine if there were differences in outcomes of arthroscopic surgery in patients with inflammatory/degenerative temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disease who underwent early surgical intervention versus late surgical intervention.

Materials And Methods: The study population included 44 consecutive patients who met the criteria for TMJ operative arthroscopy who were divided into early and late intervention groups. The time between the onset of symptoms and the performance of arthroscopy was used to determine entry into the early versus late intervention group.