AIIMS Bhubaneswar performs total TMJ replacement surgery
BHUBANESWAR: AIIMS Bhubaneswar doctors have successfully performed total TMJ (Temporomandibular joint) replacement surgery on a poor tribal girl from Rajgangpur in Sundargarh district. She had a problem called TMJ ankylosis (fusion of the lower jaw with skull base), due to which she could not open her mouth for last ten years.
TMJ is joint that moves the lower jaw while eating or talking. The 19-year-old girl had visited many doctors and hospitals for this problem, but she did not get any relief. Finally, she had approached AIIMS Bhubaneswar in the first week of January for help.
A team of doctors comprising maxillofacial surgeon Kiran Kumar Boyina, plastic surgeon Ritesh Panda from the department of trauma and emergency and another maxillofacial surgeon Saubhik Dasukil from the department of dentistry successfully performed the surgery by removing the fused bone along the joints. The artificial joint replacement was done using a titanium implant, said the hospital sources.
The anaesthesia part was difficult and challenging, but anaesthesiologist Suma Rabab Ahmad competently managed it. The hospitalisation and surgical procedure were done free of cost. The implant cost of around Rs 1 lakh was supported by Odisha government’s scheme Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY).
Boyina, assistant professor of trauma and emergency department, said opening of girl’s mouth gradually decreased after she got an ear infection ten years back. Before the operation, her mouth was not opening. “She was on a liquid diet for the last 10 years. This even caused facial disfigurement slowly over the period,” he added.
Ashok Kumar Jena, additional professor from department of dentistry, said that many TMJ ankylosis cases were operated earlier, but this is different. “To the best of our knowledge, this surgery is first of its kind performed in Odisha and probably in Eastern India,” he claimed.