Surgical treatment of osteochondroma of the mandibular condyle in the adult. A 5-year follow-up.

Five adult patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain and impaired mandibular function and with clinical and radiographic features of unilateral osteochondroma of the mandibular condyle was included in a 5-year prospective follow-up study. All patients were surgically treated with condylectomy and reshaping of the condylar neck which was then positioned underneath the preserved TMJ disk. The yearly follow-up evaluations comprised measurements of maximum interincisal opening and protrusive movements, assessments of occlusion and TMJ pain as well as tomographic interpretation of recurrent growth. No patient showed recurrence of growth at the 5-year follow-up and mandibular function and occlusion was normalized in all patients. The results indicate that this conservative surgical approach can be recommended for treatment of osteochondroma of the mandibular condyle.