Arthrocentesis for the treatment of temporomandibular joint closed lock: a review article

Although arthrocentesis is not a panacea, it has been widely used for a variety of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders. Uncritical acceptance of the procedure has been cautioned against, as further analysis and clarification of published studies was required. The aim of this article was to review the efficacy of arthrocentesis in the treatment of patients with TMJ closed lock. The rationale behind this approach was based on the notion that TMJ surgical results should be reported by the specific category of TMJ disorder. After a Medline search of the international literature, 14 articles were found fulfilling the criteria set forth by this article. Another five articles were added after an additional hand search based on the available references of the papers found. The majority of the reviewed publications were prospective case series with flawed methodology and, despite the impression that arthrocentesis may be beneficial for patients with TMJ closed lock, there have been no good prospective randomized clinical trials that confirm the efficacy of this procedure.