The Chronic Obstructive Sialadenitis Symptoms Questionnaire to assess sialendoscopy-assisted surgery

Introduce the Chronic Obstructive Sialadenitis Symptoms (COSS) questionnaire to quantify chronic sialadenitis symptoms and assess the impact of sialendoscopic-assisted salivary duct surgery (SASDS).

Retrospective outcome symptoms questionnaire study.

The COSS questionnaire assesses the severity of sialadenitis symptoms from 0 to 100. Patients who underwent SASDS from April 2006 to December 2013 completed the COSS questionnaire and the ShortForm8 Health Survey (SF-8) based on current symptoms, and reported whether they had complete, partial, or no symptomatic response to SASDS.

Sixty-six of the 156 (43%) contacted patients completed the questionnaires who had had symptoms in 26 submandibular ducts and 53 parotid ducts. The mean COSS score was higher for parotid ducts (12.0; interquartile range [IQR] 1.0-20.0) than for submandibular ducts (7.6; IQR 0.5-15.0) but not significantly so (P = 0.20). Thirty-eight (60%) patients reported complete resolution of symptoms, with a mean COSS score of 4.5 (IQR 0-7). Twenty-one (33%) patients reported partial resolution, with a mean COSS score of 18.5 (IQR 11.3-22.8). Five (8%) patients reported no improvement, with a mean COSS score of 25.1 (IQR 15.2-35). Thirty-six (46%) ducts with sialoliths had a significantly lower mean COSS score (5.8; IQR 0-9.5) compared to those without sialoliths (14.2; IQR 4.5-21.5, P = 0.0004). There was no significant difference in SF-8 survey scores between these groups.

The COSS questionnaire is a novel survey instrument to measure obstructive sialadenitis symptom severity that could be helpful in defining outcomes of SASDS. COSS scores under 10 correlate with complete resolution of symptoms, whereas scores between 10 and 25 correlate with partial resolution.