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COMMENTARY |
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Year : 2014 | Volume
: 7
| Issue : 2 | Page : 238-239 |
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Masseter muscle myotomy as an effective surgical method for managing trismus
Yadavalli Guruprasad
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, AME'S Dental College Hospital and Research Centre, Raichur-584 103, Karnataka, India
Date of Web Publication | 4-Feb-2014 |
Correspondence Address: Yadavalli Guruprasad Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, AME'S Dental College Hospital and Research Centre, Raichur-584103, Karnataka India
Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None | Check |
How to cite this article: Guruprasad Y. Masseter muscle myotomy as an effective surgical method for managing trismus. Med J DY Patil Univ 2014;7:238-9 |
The publishing of the article "Management of trismus by masseter myotomy" brings into focus several factors like proper diagnosis and management which result from primary surgical procedures in the orofacial region. Trismus is a pathological condition involving the muscles of mastication, and commonly affects the patients undergoing dental procedures, facio-maxillary surgery, and radiation therapy for managing head and neck tumours. Trismus is a result of sustained contraction of one or more of the muscles of mastication: the masseter, temporalis, or pterygoid muscles which can yield contracture of the connective tissue resulting in restriction of mouth opening. [1],[2]
Surgery and radiation therapy can injure the tissues involved in opening the mouth. Fibrosis (scarring) can occur at the tissues which begin to heal after surgery. Muscles and other fibers shorten and tighten, which makes it harder to open the mouth. [3] Most of the time, trismus can be managed conservatively unless absolutely indicated for surgery. Trismus resulting secondary to pathology involving the maxillofacial region can be better managed by surgery using masseter muscle myotomy [4] to achieve better mouth opening, followed by both active and passive stretching exercises. Thus, it can be concluded that masseter muscle myotomy is an effective procedure for managing trismus resulting from any existing pathology or as a result of post-surgical complication.
References | | |
1. | Luky N, Sternberg C. Aetiology and diagnosis of clinically evident jaw trismus. Aust Dent J 1990;35:523-9. |
2. | Marien M. Trismus: causes, differential diagnosis and treatment. Gen Dent 1997;45:350-5. |
3. | Shulman DH, Shipman B, Willis FB. Treating trismus with dynamic splinting: a case report. J Oral Sci 2009;51:141-4. |
4. | Nishimura T, Okabe Y, Furukawa M. A chronic organized masseter abscess causing trismus resolved by hemi-masseter myotomy. Auris Nasus Larynx 1996;23:140-2. |
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