Quality of life after temporomandibular joint surgery: A prospective cohort study of clinical determinants

Previous studies have demonstrated improvements in quality of life (QoL) following temporomandibular joint (TMJ) surgery for patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with postoperative improvement in QoL after TMJ surgery. This prospective longitudinal study observed patients with TMDs who underwent TMJ surgery at a German tertiary referral centre over a 10-year period. Predictor variables were categorised as demographic, clinical, operative and postoperative factors. The primary outcome was postoperative improvement in QoL. Appropriate statistical analyses were performed, with significance set at P ≤ 0.05. A total of 61 patients (mean age 40.9 years, range 15–74 years) were included, 68.9% of whom were female. Overall, 82.0% of patients reported an improved QoL following surgery. No significant associations were identified between QoL improvement and age, sex, preoperative diagnosis, surgical procedure or postoperative functional improvement. All patients reported postoperative pain relief; therefore, the association between pain relief and QoL improvement could not be statistically tested because there was no variability in the pain-relief variable. Descriptive analyses indicated that higher proportions of patients experienced QoL improvement following arthroplasty and total TMJ replacement than following arthroscopy with arthrocentesis. These findings suggest that postoperative QoL improvement was common after TMJ surgery, whereas the small subgroup sizes and absence of variability in postoperative pain relief limited the identification of independent predictors.