Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMDs) represent a heterogeneous group of conditions affecting the joint and associated structures, often leading to pain, restricted mandibular movement, and functional impairment. In recent years, regenerative approaches such as prolotherapy have gained attention as minimally invasive treatment options aimed at enhancing tissue repair and improving clinical outcomes. Commonly used agents include dextrose solutions and platelet-rich plasma (PRP), both of which are proposed to modulate inflammation and stimulate healing within the joint complex. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of prolotherapy in improving functional outcomes in TMDs. The protocol was registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42024537525). A comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library, supplemented by manual screening of Google Scholar, was performed. Study selection was carried out independently by three reviewers, with disagreements resolved by a fourth reviewer. From an initial pool of 1150 articles, 19 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis, contributing data from 347 patients. Among these, 335 patients received dextrose prolotherapy, while 436 were treated with PRP. The mean patient age was 37.7 years, with an average follow-up duration of 22.8 weeks. Overall, prolotherapy demonstrated potential benefits in improving functional outcomes; however, treatment efficacy varied depending on the agent used and patient-specific factors. These findings highlight the need for individualized treatment planning and further high-quality studies.
Kulkarni et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: