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Efficacy of Botulinum Toxin in Temporomandibular Disorders

Preliminary Findings of the Efficacy of Botulinum Toxin in Temporomandibular Disorders: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 2Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05651256
Acronym
TMD
Enrollment
20
Registered
2022-12-14
Start date
2021-03-01
Completion date
2021-07-30
Last updated
2022-12-14

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Temporomandibular Joint Disorder Bilateral

Keywords

Botulinum toxin, Temporomandibular joint disorders, Masticatory disfunction syndrome, Randomized clinical trial

Brief summary

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) represent a multifactorial pathological group that gives rise to a varied and complex symptomatology that includes decreased jaw movement, muscle and joint pain, joint crepitation and limitation or functional deviation of the jaw opening. All this is sometimes accompanied by headache and other painful symptoms in the neck musculature, incapacitating for many patients and at considerable public health expense. Intramuscular and intra-articular injections of botulinum toxin are a simple treatment that has proven to be effective in the treatment of the painful symptoms of these disorders, being a therapeutic option in situations of failure of conventional treatments, without presenting adverse effects. Our study presents the preliminary results of twenty patients treated with this therapy

Detailed description

TMDs are a common pathology affecting up to 70% of the population, with a maximum incidence in young patients. We used a sample of twenty patients recruited in the Maxillofacial Surgery Service of the University Hospital of Salamanca (Spain), who met the inclusion criteria, with unilateral painful symptomatology of more than three months duration. All patients were randomly treated by intramuscular and intra-articular injections of BTX (100 U) in 8 predetermined points. Pain symptomatology was assessed at the different locations, together with joint symptomatology, at baseline and 6 weeks after treatment. Adverse effects were also evaluated. In 85% of the patients, pain on oral opening improved and 90% showed improvement of pain on mastication. A 75% of the patients reported improvement in joint clicking/noise. Headaches improved or disappeared in 70% of the patients treated. Despite the limitations of the study and the preliminary results, intramuscular and intra-articular infiltrations with BTX were effective in the treatment of symptoms associated with TMDs, with minimal adverse effects.

Interventions

The solution for injection was prepared immediately before the intervention, by dissolving the vials of BTX, kept refrigerated at 5ºC, in 1 ml of sterile saline solution at room temperature. Eight injection sites were marked, three located in the masseter muscle, two in the lateral pterygoid muscle, one in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and two in the temporalis muscle. A 1 cc marked insulin syringe was used for intramuscular injection of the prepared solution, according to the locations and amounts proposed by Kim et al. and Ho et al. with a total dose of 100 U in each patient.distributed at the different injection sites.

Sponsors

University of Salamanca
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

clinical trial

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 69 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* The study included patients diagnosed with TMDs, according to the established diagnostic criteria, aged between 18 and 69 years (both included) and with unilateral painful symptomatology of more than three months' duration.

Exclusion criteria

* Patients previously treated with surgery/arthrocentesis of the TMJ; patients treated in the last six months with surgery in the cervicofacial region; patients who, at the time of inclusion in the study, were being treated in a Pain Unit and patients who had previously received treatment with BTX.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Measurement of pain intensity in the masticatory musculature6 weeksPain intensity was evaluated through the visual analogue scale (VAS). The patients determined the intensity of pain in the different locations of the craniofacial region (temporal muscle, masseter muscle, pterygoid muscle, and TMJ) in a range of 0 to 10, before and after the administration of botulinum toxin. 0 was the absence of pain and 10 the intensity of maximum pain. The percentage of patients in whom the pain intensity of the masticatory muscles decreased after treatment with botox type A was analyzed.
Complications in the administration of botulinum toxin6 weeksAdverse side effects assessed included warmth, redness, and bruising at the injection site, swallowing disturbance, contracture or pain of the contralateral muscle, and abnormal jaw movements. Therefore, the percentage of patients included in the study who presented complications after the injection of botulinum toxin according to the established parameters was analyzed.

Countries

Spain

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026