COMPLICATIONS FOLLOWING ARTHROSCOPY OF THE TEMPOROMANDIBULAR-JOINT - ANALYSIS COVERING A 10-YEAR PERIOD (451 ARTHROSCOPIES)

451 arthroscopies of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) have been perfo rmed on 373 patients during 10 years of clinical experience. The compl ication rate was low (1.77%). Most complications were transient, consi sting mainly of temporary deficits of the 5th and 7th cranial nerves. No patient required arthrotomy because of complications, but one patie nt had to undergo angiography and embolization of a traumatic aneurysm of the superficial temporal artery secondary to arthroscopy.