| Title |
Septic Arthritis of the Temporomandibular Joint; An Uncommonly Reported Entity |
| Clinical Question |
What are the disease characteristics and response management of temporomandibular joint pain caused by septic arthritis? |
| Clinical Bottom Line |
Septic arthritis of the TMJ from hematogenous spread from an unknown infection can result in pain, swelling and fever. If untreated, it is considered a medical emergency and can result in loss of function TMJ joint. |
| Best Evidence |
|
| PubMed ID |
Author / Year |
Patient Group |
Study type
(level of evidence) |
| 19954877 | Cal/2009 | 40 patients: 26 men and 14 women, average age of 36 years. | Retrospective Review of 40 cases | | Key results | Of the 40 patients, all reported pain of the temporomandibular joint. Microorganisms identified included S saprophyticus, Gram-positive occus, S aureus, and unknown. The most common found risk factors were extraction of maxillary and mandibular molars, trauma, and unknown. | |
| Evidence Search |
"Arthritis, Infectious"[Mesh] AND "Temporomandibular Joint"[Mesh] |
Comments on
The Evidence |
This case series is the strongest evidence on this topic indexed in PubMed. Only 40 patients were used in the study and because of the small number of reported cases and atypical clinical manifestations, misdiagnoses could easily occur. |
| Applicability |
Septic arthritis of the TMJ is uncommonly reported. It is characterized by pain, fever, swelling, and loss of function of the joint. |
| Specialty |
(Oral Surgery) |
| Keywords |
Septic arthritis, TMJ, Bacteria
|
| ID# |
2268 |
| Date of submission |
04/25/2012 |
| E-mail |
Siedow@livemail.uthscsa.edu |
| Author |
Stephen Siedow |
| Co-author(s) |
|
| Co-author(s) e-mail |
|
| Faculty mentor |
S. Thomas Deahl, II, DMD, PhD |
| Faculty mentor e-mail |
DEAHL@uthscsa.edu> |
| |
|
Basic Science Rationale
(Mechanisms that may account for and/or explain the clinical question, i.e. is the answer to the clinical question consistent with basic biological, physical and/or behavioral science principles, laws and research?) |
| None available | |
 |
Comments and Evidence-Based Updates on the CAT
(FOR PRACTICING DENTISTS', FACULTY, RESIDENTS and/or STUDENTS COMMENTS ON PUBLISHED CATs) |
| None available | |