ABSTRACT
Objectives: To assess the cohort of patients undergoing
sialendoscopic intervention for improvement of symptoms and
gland-related quality of life at long-term follow up.
Methods: This is a retrospective review of medical records with
a prospective follow-up by questionnaire. All patients undergoing
sialendoscopy between March 2008 and June 2020 were analyzed in detail
regarding indications, technical aspects and postoperative course. To
maximize follow-up, patients also received a questionnaire by e-mail.
Results: 272 sialendoscopies were performed in 221 patients.
Median follow-up time was 37 months. The sialendoscopies were performed
in 130 patients for lithiasis, in 66 for stenosis, in 14 for recurrent
parotitis of childhood, in 8 for recurrent sialadenitis of unknown
origin and in 3 for radio-iodine induced sialadenitis. Complications
occurred in 11 of 272 sialendoscopies (4%). Those were iatrogenic
perforations, temporary lingual nerve paresthesia and swelling of the
floor of the mouth. 53% of patients returned the questionnaire, for a
total of 146 evaluable sialendoscopies. The majority of the responders
indicated that sialendoscopy had improved their symptoms (83.6%).
Salivary glands could be preserved in 89% of the responder group. The
highest percentage of patients reporting residual symptoms was found in
the RPC group (81.3%) and the lowest in the lithiasis group (16.2%).
Besides age, no statistical differences in demographic and pathological
features between the responder and non-responder groups were found,
supporting generalization of the responders’ results to the entire
cohort.
Conclusions: This study confirms the good long-term outcomes of
sialendoscopic interventions in patients with chronic sialadenitis of
different etiologies and a high rate of gland preservation.