Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Temporomandibular ankylosis in the cat: a review of seven cases.
- Journal:
- The Journal of small animal practice
- Year:
- 1999
- Authors:
- Meomartino, L et al.
- Affiliation:
- Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche Veterinarie · Italy
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
This study looked at seven cats that had a rare condition called ankylosis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which is where the jaw connects to the skull. Most of these cats had experienced some kind of trauma before developing this issue. The cats were examined using X-rays, and five of them had surgery to remove part of the joint, while the other two had their jaws stretched under anesthesia. The surgery worked well for all but one cat, which still had some limited movement in its jaw after the procedure. However, the two cats that didn't have surgery ended up having their condition come back within a few months. Overall, the authors found that surgery is the best option for treating TMJ ankylosis in cats.
Abstract
Ankylosis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in the cat is an unusual complication of traumatic lesions involving articular (true ankylosis) or periarticular structures (false ankylosis). Seven cats with true ankylosis of the TMJ (four cases unilateral and three cases bilateral), of which previous trauma had been documented in five cases, were referred to the authors' clinic between September 1991 and October 1996. Radiographic assessment was performed in all cases, using dorsoventral and oblique projections. Five subjects underwent arthroplastic excision of the TMJ and, in the remaining two cases, stretching of the jaws was performed under general anaesthesia. The surgical outcome was satisfactory in all but one case, where partially decreased joint mobility was observed (follow-up time one to five years), but in the two cases where non-surgical treatment was carried out, recurrence of TMJ ankylosis was observed (follow-up time two to five months). In the authors' experience, surgery represents the treatment of choice for TMJ ankylosis in cats. Additional mandibular symphysiotomy can confirm the radiological findings in unilateral cases.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10092035/