Temporomandibular joint disorders treated with articular injection: the effectiveness of plasma rich in growth factors-Endoret

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osteoarthritis treatment through articular injections of plasma rich in growth factors (PGRF)-Endoret. Thirteen patients (median age, 47.64 y; SD, 7.51; range, 40-64 y; male-female ratio, 2:11) with osteoarthritis of TMJ associated to chronic pain have been selected. They were treated with articular injections of PRGF-Endoret, measuring the maximum mouth opening and pain level before the first injection (t0), 30 days after just before the second (t1), and after 6 months (t2). Data were analyzed using the paired Student's t-test data. The visual analogue scale score at t0 is 7.69 (range, 4-10; SD, 1.9), whereas that at t1 is 1.54 (range, 0-5; SD, 1.74) and that at t2 is 0.23 (range, 0-2; SD, 0.65). These differences in the results are statistically highly significant (P < 0.0001 comparison t0-t1 and t0-t2 and P < 0.01 comparison t1-t2). In terms of maximum mouth opening, it reduced from 30.15 mm at t0 (range, 26-40 mm; SD, 4.44) to 37.54 mm at t1 (range, 31-51 mm; SD, 5.10), with an increase of 7.38 mm (range, 4-11 mm; SD, 2.02) and a highly significant difference (P < 0.0001). At t2, it was 39.54 mm (range, 34-51; SD, 4.55) with an increase of 9.38 mm (range, 5-12 mm; SD, 2.21) compared with t0 and that of 2.00 mm compared with t1. Both differences in the results are statistically significant (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.01, respectively). The articular injections of PRGF-Endoret represent a very efficient method to control pain and to improve the TMJ mobility.