Avaliação clínica da injeção única de hialuronato de sódio de alto peso molecular após artrocentese em pacientes com desarranjo na ATM: estudo piloto

To evaluate the efficacy of the technique and the longevity of the results obtained by combining the minimally invasive surgical procedure of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthrocentesis with a single injection of high-molecular-weight sodium hyaluronate (HA). A randomized clinical trial was conducted. The experimental unit consisted of 14 patients. The study factor was time, evaluated at five levels: baseline, T1 (1 week), T2 (30 days), T3 (90 days), and T4 (6 months). The outcome variables included pain, assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS; 0–10) (quantitative variable); joint noise (presence or absence) (nominal qualitative variable); and maximum mouth opening (mm) (quantitative variable). Pain scores were significantly lower at all follow-up evaluations compared with baseline, regardless of the side assessed (p ≤ 0.05). For maximum mouth opening (mm), no statistically significant differences were observed over time (p = 0.28). Likewise, no statistically significant differences were found regarding joint noise (p > 0.05). A single injection of high-molecular-weight sodium hyaluronate following two-needle TMJ arthrocentesis appears to be an effective treatment option for patients who do not respond to conservative therapy.