Success of minimally invasive salivary gland surgery—Quality of life, prognostic factors

OBJECTIVE: Goal of this study was to investigate, whether sialendoscopy in obstructive salivary gland disorders affects patients' oral health‐related quality of life compared to healthy individuals, and to determine factors that might influence this relationship. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective observational study. SETTING: University of Kiel, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A group of 130 patients, undergoing sialendoscopy between 01/2004 and 06/2017 was considered. Oral health‐related quality of life was assessed using the OHIP‐G14 (Oral Health Impact Profile) in combination with a custom‐made questionnaire on satisfaction and success in relation to sialendoscopy. RESULTS: Oral health‐related quality of life of patients without dentures or with removable dentures was significantly worse than in the healthy population, whereas the necessity of multiple additional follow‐up treatments was associated with worse oral health‐related quality of life. No essential predisposing factors were identified. Average satisfaction with the intervention was observed to be x̅ = 4.33 (SD = 3.69) on a visual analogue scale from 1 (=very satisfied) to 10 (=very unsatisfied). A longer follow‐up period and a higher patients' age were positively related, whereas removal of salivary gland during follow‐up was negatively related to satisfaction. In 113 cases (86.9%) long‐term preservation was accomplished and 115 (88.5%) patients would repeat a sialendoscopy in case needed. CONCLUSION: In summary, sialendoscopy resulted in long‐term high subjective and objective success rates. However, oral health‐related quality of life scores did not reach those levels found in the healthy population.