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CASE REPORT article
Front. Oral. Health
Sec. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/froh.2025.1581583
The Calcified Sphenomandibular Ligament: Case Report, Surgical Management and Literature Review
Provisionally accepted- The Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Poriya, Poriah, Israel
Calcification of the Sphenomandibular ligament (SML) is an extremely rare condition, with only three previously documented cases worldwide. This report presents the fourth known case of SML calcification in a 32-year-old male patient with a 17-year history of progressive trismus. Following a dental procedure involving a mandibular nerve block, the patient gradually developed limited mouth opening, which was resistant to conservative treatments. Imaging revealed calcification of the SML, which was confirmed intraoperatively. Surgical excision led to a significant improvement in mandibular function. This report discusses clinical presentation, diagnostic workup, surgical management, and a comprehensive literature review, emphasizing the importance of considering rare ligamentous pathologies in cases of persistent trismus.
Keywords: Trismus, OMFS, Sphenomandibular ligament, Sphenomandibular ligament calcification, Dental complication, Dental complications, Pterygomandibular space
Received: 22 Feb 2025; Accepted: 07 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Batshon, Araida and Abu El-Naaj. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
George Batshon, The Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Poriya, Poriah, Israel
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