Short-term outcome and patient satisfaction after sialendoscopy

Sialendoscopy is an established, minimally invasive technique to diagnose and treat obstructive disorders of major salivary glands. Knowledge about patient satisfaction and quality of life is limited. All patients who underwent sialendoscopy were prospectively followed and evaluated. To determine the quality of life after sialendoscopy, an established questionnaire was evaluated (Short-Form-36 Health Survey-SF-36). To determine patient satisfaction, a self-made questionnaire was applied and evaluated. Furthermore, postoperative follow-up examination and the amount of patients who could be saved from sialadenectomy were determined. Main reasons for sialendoscopy were recurrent or permanent swelling of the affected salivary gland. 46 patients were included, 52 sialendoscopies were performed. Immediately after sialendoscopy operative ablation of the respective gland was averted in 98.1 % of the patients. After the follow-up period of 225.4 ± 79.0 days operative ablation of the respective gland was avoided in 89.9 % of the patients. Overall, 85.2 % reported an improvement of symptoms during follow-up, however, values for role-physical functioning (p = 0.025) and bodily pain (p = 0.011) still showed a significant difference when compared to a matched reference group of healthy individuals. Significant negative influence factors towards the outcome were younger age, long-term duration of symptoms and selected SF-36 items (vitality, social functioning, and mental health). Operative ablation of major salivary glands can be avoided by means of sialendoscopy in high percentages during short-term. There seems to be a high patient satisfaction in these selected cases. The duration of preoperative symptoms appears to be an important factor predisposing towards poor satisfaction.