Comparison of the Effectiveness of Conservative and Surgical Treatment of Medication-Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw: a Systematic Review

Objectives: The objective of this systematic review is to evaluate the current knowledge on the effectiveness of conservative and surgical treatment of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw.

Material and Methods: MEDLINE (PubMed), ScienceDirect and Cochrane Library search in combination with hand-search of relevant journals was conducted including human studies published in English between January 2017 and February 2023. Studies assessing treatment strategies for medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) were included. Quality and risk-of-bias assessment were evaluated by Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Risk of Bias tool.

Results: A total of 4227 articles were screened from which 9 studies (7 cohort studies and 2 randomized controlled trials) met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final data synthesis. Two studies evaluate effectiveness of conservative approaches for treating MRONJ, 5 studies evaluate surgical approaches effectiveness, and 2 studies compare between those approaches. The follow-up period ranged from 6 months to 60 months. According to bias assessment, the mean JDI score of the included studies was > 9 (“low risk of bias”). The stage of the disease, the procedure performed on the patient and the results of the treatment were presented.

Conclusions: Surgical therapy seems to be superior to conservative therapy for the management of adverse stages medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaws, while conservative treatment appears to yield good outcomes at asymptomatic patients with early stages of the disease.

J Oral Maxillofac Res 2023;14(4):e1

doi: 10.5037/jomr.2023.14401

Accepted for publication: 22 December 2023

Keywords: bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw; bisphosphonates; conservative treatment; denosumab; oral surgery.