[Complications of surgical treatment for submandibular calculi (author's transl)]

It is not unusual for complications to occur after surgical treatment for submandibular calculi, and 4 types were observed during operations on wharton's duct. These were: absence of calculi, breaking of a needle, hematoma of the floor of the mouth, and lost calculi. Later complications were more frequent and included a return of symptoms without residual calculi, false cysts in the floor and affections of the tongue. True recurrence is also possible. Severe postoperative complications such as hematoma of the floor of the mouth may occur after submaxillectomy. Sequelae are much more frequently noted, including neurological lesions (of the lingual and facial nerves or more rarely the XIIth nerve), pseudocysts, or cutaneous fistulae. In a critical analysis of the incidents, even very mild ones, noted in a series of 210 patients, a total of 110 were found, equal to more than half the cases.