Surgical management of necrotizing sialometaplasia of palate

Necrotizing sialometaplasia (NSM) is a rare benign, inflammatory disease of both major and minor salivary glands, although more commonly reported in the minor glands of the palate. The characteristic clinical presentation can perplex the clinician and may be mistaken for a malignant neoplasm, such as mucoepidermoid carcinoma, as well as invasive squamous cell carcinoma. The clinical and histological similarity between this entity and a malignant lesion may result in unnecessary or mis-treatment. Though clinically mimics malignancy, NSM is considered to be a self-limiting disease, and takes about 3-12 weeks to resolve. Majority of the case resolves itself or by supportive and symptomatic treatment. Surgical intervention is rarely required in NSM except the diagnostic biopsy. Herein we report the clinical, histopathological feature and surgical management of a case of NSM of hard palate in a young adult male.