Microbiology and Management of Sialadenitis

Acute and chronic inflammatory diseases of the major and minor salivary glands constitute the most common clinical syndrome of salivary glands. During the past decade, the use of antibiotics along with fluid hydration and electrolyte management has almost eliminated the development of fulminating acute suppurative parotitis in hospital surgical patients. Although acute bacterial and viral sialadenitis persists, the clinical challenge has changed, with more focus on the chronic inflammatory group of diseases. The pathogenesis of the chronic salivary inflammatory disease spectrum has also changed, with the interplay between sialadenitis, sialectasia, and sialolithiasis. There also exists a heterogeneous group of disorders in chronic inflammatory sialadenitis, which include the group of specific and nonspecific granulomatous diseases.