Ankylostoma – colloquially known as lockjaw – refers to a condition in which the jaw can no longer be opened to its normal maximum mouth opening. The mouth opening is restricted.
Symptoms – Complaints
Lockjaw is characterized by restricted mouth opening. Depending on the cause of the lockjaw, pain may be present due to muscular tension or abscesses.
Pathogenesis (disease development) – etiology (causes)
An ankylostoma can have three different causes. Both myogenic (muscle-related), arthrogenic (joint-related), and neurogenic (nerve-related) factors can cause an ankylostomy.
Muscle-related lockjaw is the most common. Muscular causes can include abscesses or inflammatory infiltrates in the area of the muscles, but sometimes neoplasms (malignant tissue neoplasms) can also cause limited mobility of the muscles, leading to a lockjaw.
Impeded eruption of wisdom teeth, called dentitio difficilis, can also result in restricted mouth opening due to inflammation in the immediate vicinity of the temporomandibular joint.
Arthrogenic causes are also possible triggers of a lockjaw. These include, among other triggers, disc displacements in the temporomandibular joint, which can sometimes lead to a limitation of the mouth opening. However, fractures (broken bones) in the area of the joint head also frequently cause lockjaw.
Another possible trigger for a temporary lockjaw can be a conduction anesthesia (anesthetic injection) in the lower jaw. In this case, it is possible that there is a temporary restriction of the mouth opening.
Follow-up
There are no known secondary diseases.
Diagnostics
Lockjaw can first be detected by its clinical appearance. Often, patients themselves state that their mouths cannot be opened as far as they are used to. A detailed medical history and clinical examination can be used to determine the underlying cause of the lockjaw.
Medical device diagnostics If the cause cannot be clearly determined, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan must be performed in individual cases, for example, to detect a dislocation of the disc. If fractures are suspected on the basis of the medical history, an X-ray can be taken to prove them. If a malignant (malignant) mass is suspected as the cause, a computed tomography (CT) scan must be performed.
Therapy
Therapy for lockjaw consists of treating the underlying cause.
For example, if an abscess (encapsulated collection of pus in a nonpreformed body cavity resulting from inflammatory tissue melting) is present, it can be incised (split) and the pus drained so that once the abscess heals, the lockjaw will also regress.
A lockjaw after a line anesthesia (anesthetic injection) in the lower jaw usually recedes on its own.
In addition, supportive measures may be appropriate, the doctor decides on this individually. These include physiotherapeutic measures such as stretching exercises or heat application.
Sometimes drug treatment with muscle relaxants is useful. This is also decided by the attending physician.
In principle, a lockjaw is usually a reversible and easily treatable condition.
