Do patient-reported outcome measures correlate with clinical follow-up after arthroscopic treatment of internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint?

Introduction: Arthroscopic treatment of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) has traditionally been evaluated with clinical measurements. Additional recordings of patient reported outcome measures (PROM) is expected to make the evaluation more complete. The aim of the study was to evaluate if PROM correlates with clinical follow-up measures after arthroscopic treatment of internal derangement of the TMJ.

Material And Methods: Patients with temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD), treated with arthroscopic lysis and lavage of the TMJ, were followed with a PROM questionnaire; Jaw Functional Limitation Scale 20 (JFLS-20) and a review of patient medical records. Out of 239 patients treated, 134 were eligible for inclusion to the study.

Results: 91 subjects, 21 males and 70 females, with mean age 42.6 years completed the follow-up. The JFLS-20 mean score was 25.43 (range: 0-148). A correlation was found between JFLS and mouth opening. The JFLS-20 score was decreased by 1.48 (p = 0.0001) for ever millimeter larger mouth opening and with 1.16 (p = 0.001) for every gained millimeter of mouth opening after arthroscopic treatment of the TMJ. The mean maximal mouth opening was 38.43 mm preoperatively (15 to 75 mm) compared to 42.19 mm postoperatively (range: 21-75 mm). A total of 80 subjects with TMD associated pain preoperatively was reduced to 25 postoperatively (p = 0.0001).

Discussion: Advantageous treatment effect with arthroscopic lysis and lavage was presented. The outcome of the JFLS-20 questionnaire indicates a correlation with the clinical findings. Future studies will focus on larger cohorts and using PROM with a case-control setting.