Outcome of the Management of Salivary Gland Diseases by Sialendoscopy: A University Hospital's Experience

Abstract

Sialendoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of salivary gland diseases. The purpose of this study was to review a series of the patients undergoing sialendoscopy and to present our experience regarding the management and outcome of obstructive sialadenitis treated by this procedure. This study was a case series. We collected data on patients who underwent sialendoscopy in our institute between January 2016 and July 2019. The data included patients' demographics, involved salivary glands, diagnostic investigation, types of anesthesia, endoscopic findings, materials used, complications, adjunctive treatment, duration of follow-up, and therapeutic outcome. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the surgical findings and outcome. There were 61 patients involving 76 glands (48 submandibular and 29 parotid glands). There were 43 females and 18 males with the median age 45years at the time of sialendoscopy. The median duration of follow-up was 6months. The most dominant symptom was pain with swelling (59.20%). The 2 most common sialendoscopic findings were ductal stenosis and sialolithiasis. We observed a success rate in achieving a complete relief of 77.6% at the first procedure and 96.7% at the last follow-up. We did not have any cases with postoperative complication or recurrence. Our study supports sialendoscopy as a safe and successful procedure that plays a dual role in diagnostics and in relieving symptoms of patients with obstructive sialadenitis with or without sialolithiasis. It should be advised for patients with non-neoplastic salivary duct obstruction either for diagnosis or therapeutic intervention.