Usefulness of Stensen’s Duct Steroid Irrigation in Patients With Chronic Sialadenitis of the Parotid Gland

Abstract

Background and Objectives Inflammatory and obstructive diseases of the salivary glands can cause recurrent pain, swelling, and dry mouth, significantly affecting the quality of life. In most cases, symptoms improve after medical treatment, but if symptoms persist or recur, other treatment methods should be considered. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of salivary duct steroid irrigation in refractory chronic sialadenitis.Subjects and Method A retrospective study was conducted on 19 patients who underwent Stensen’s duct steroid irrigation from January 2016 to December 2021. All patients enrolled in study had no improvement of symptoms after medical treatment. The clinical characteristics including etiology, location, symptom duration, underlying disease, treatment response and complications of the patients were analyzed.Results Stensen’s duct steroid irrigation was effective in 12 of 19 patients (63%), of which 5 (26%) showed complete disappearance of symptoms. There was no difference in the treatment effect by etiology. The rate of non-response to treatment was high when the symptom duration was more than one year. Temporary parotid gland swelling occurred in two patients after irrigation, while other side effects such as bleeding and infection did not occur.Conclusion Salivary duct steroid irrigation is a simple and safe procedure, which may be considered as a treatment method for medically refractory chronic sialadenitis.