Septic Arthritis of the Temporomandibular Joint in an Infant

Abstract

Infantile temporomandibular joint septic arthritis is an uncommon paediatric infection, but one which carries the potential for severe morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis and aggressive medical and possibly surgical management is indicated for the best outcomes. The presenting clinical features are non-specific in a neonate and an infant; as such a high degree of clinical suspicion is required. We present the case of an eleven-month-old boy who has made a full recovery from an acute temporomandibular joint septic arthritis and review the relevant literature.

Keywords: Temporomandibular joint; magnetic resonance imaging; septic arthritis.

Figure 1.

A and B) Coronal T2 (turbo inversion recovery) images demonstrates a right temporomandibular joint effusion with surrounding inflammation which extends through the temporalis and pterygoid muscles, as well as permeating through the right squamous temporal bone to cause a small temporal epidural inflammatory reaction, and reactive changes in the mastoid air cells, and reactive cervical adenopathy.

Figure 2.

Coronal images reformatted T1 space post gadolinium.