Conservative treatment of temporomandibular joint osteoarthrosis: intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate.

Promising short-term results in the treatment of temporomandibular joint osteoarthrosis with intra-articular injections of sodium hyaluronate (SH) have been reported in preliminary studies. The present prospective study compared long-term outcomes of temporomandibular joint SH injections with those of a conventional non-surgical treatment (bite-plane). Data from three groups of 20 patients with degenerative temporomandibular joint disease were considered. Group A underwent one cycle of five injections of 1 mL SH. Group B underwent a bite-plane treatment for at least 6 months. We considered a control group of 20 patients who refused any treatments. The description of the outcomes was based on objective and subjective parameters after a 6-month follow-up. Sodium hyaluronate and bite-plane treatments significantly improved patients conditions in all considered parameters. No significant differences in outcomes were confirmed by the statistical analysis. The tolerability of SH treatment resulted to be significantly higher. The analysis of results of serial controls in the SH treated group disclosed a significant worsening in pain at rest by comparing 1 and 6 months follow-up. Sodium hyaluronate infiltration resulted a valid non-surgical treatment for temporomandibular joint degenerative disease. Five well-tolerated intra-articular SH injections achieved equivalent results to those of a 6 months bite-plane treatment. We did not diagnose any complications of SH intra-articular injections. Longer time follow-up is necessary to determine the stability of SH properties

Computer-assisted total knee arthroplasty using mini midvastus or medial parapatellar approach technique

Background: Despite the growing evidence in the literature there is still a lack of consensus regarding the use of minimally invasive surgical technique (MIS) in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods: A prospective, randomized, international multicentre trial including 69 patients was performed to compare computer-assisted TKA (CAS-TKA) using either mini-midvastus (MIS group) or standard medial parapatellar approach (conventional group). Patients from 3 centers (Maastricht, Zwickau, Adelaide) with end-stage osteoarthritis of the knee were randomized to either an MIS group with dedicated instrumentation or a conventional group to receive cruciate retaining CAS-TKA without patella resurfacing. The primary outcome was to compare post operative pain and range of motion (ROM). The secondary outcome was to measure the duration of surgery, blood loss, chair rise test, quadriceps strength, anterior knee pain, Knee Society Score (KSS), WOMAC scores, mechanical leg axis and component alignment. Results: Patients in the MIS group (3.97 +/- 2.16) had significant more pain at 2 weeks than patients in the conventional group (2.77 +/- 1.43) p = 0.003. There was no significant difference in any of the other primary outcome parameters. Surgery time was significantly longer (p <0.001) and there were significantly higher blood loss (p = 0.002) in the MIS group as compared to the conventional group. The difference of the mean mechanical leg alignment between the groups was not statistically significant (-0.43 degrees (95 % CI -1.50 - 0.64); p = 0.43). There was no significant difference of component alignment between the two surgical groups with respect to flexion/extension (p = 0.269), varus/valgus (p = 0.653) or rotational alignment (p = 0.485) of the femur component and varus valgus alignment (p = 0.778) or posterior slope (p = 0.164) of the tibial component. Conclusion: There was no advantage of the MIS approach compared to a conventional approach CAS-TKA in any of the primary outcome measurements assessed, however the MIS approach was associated with longer surgical time and greater blood loss. MIS-TKA in combination with computer navigation is safe in terms of implant positioning