Orofacial fascial space abscess disguised as temporomandibular disorder: a report of 3 cases and literature review.
BMC Oral Health
; 24(1): 12, 2024 01 03.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38172867
ABSTRACT
Fascial space abscess is a condition in which infections spread into fascial spaces. It is a severe and life-threatening disease unless treated at an early stage. Due to the similarity of clinical symptoms, fascial space abscesses in the orofacial area are often disguised as other diseases, such as temporomandibular disorder (TMD). In this case series, we report three cases of fascial space abscesses disguised as TMD. In all cases, patients complained of severely limited mouth opening and pain in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and masseter muscles, which led clinicians to diagnose them with TMD. After two patients showed facial swelling and the third complained of dyspnea, clinicians realized the possibility of an orofacial fascial space abscess. On further evaluation, all patients showed increased C-reactive protein in blood tests, and the location of the fascial space abscess was confirmed by enhanced computed tomography images. Moreover, all patients had suspicious sources of odontogenic infections in panoramic images, periapical abscess on maxillary molars and periodontal disease on maxillary and mandibular molars, which were not appropriately evaluated at the first visit. This case series emphasizes the need for clinicians to realize the possibility of orofacial fascial space abscesses based on clinical symptoms of severely limited mouth opening (< 15 mm) with pain in the facial area, including TMJ or masseter muscle, and possible sources of infection such as odontogenic infection, other infectious lesions, trauma, or invasive treatments. These clinical insights will enable the early detection of fascial space abscesses.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Periapical Abscess
/
Temporomandibular Joint Disorders
Type of study:
Screening_studies
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
BMC Oral Health
Journal subject:
ODONTOLOGIA
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Corea del Sur