Ultrasound shear wave elastography for patients with sialolithiasis undergoing interventional sialendoscopy

OBJECTIVE: Ultrasound shear wave elastography is an objective tool to evaluate the stiffness of human tissues. Patients with sialolithiasis could be treated by interventional sialendoscopy with a high success rate. Sialolithiasis could be extracted, and the diseased gland could be preserved and evaluated after treatment. Whether ultrasound shear wave elastography could be used for objective outcome measurement and short‐term follow‐up of the parenchyma of gland in patients with sialolithiasis remains unclear. METHODS: This retrospective self‐controlled study was conducted. Patients with sialolithiasis treated by interventional sialendoscopy and followed by high‐resolution ultrasound shear wave elastography were selected between January and September 2017. RESULTS: Seventeen patients with sialolithiasis (mean age: 39.63 ± 12.49 years), including 10 women and 7 men, were enrolled. Fifteen patients had sialolithiasis in the submandibular gland and two in the parotid gland. The preoperative value of shear wave velocity was significantly higher in the diseased gland than in the contralateral normal gland (p < .001; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.3915–0.6046). After successful treatment by interventional sialendoscopy surgery, the shear wave velocity of the diseased gland decreased significantly (p = 0.001; 95% CI, −0.38792 to −0.20474). However, there was a significant difference between the diseased and contralateral normal glands (p = 0.001; 95% CI, 0.0423–0.2895) after 1.55 months of surgery. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound shear wave elastography could be an adjuvant tool to distinguish sialolithiasis‐affected diseased glands from contralateral normal glands and assess the short‐term treatment outcome objectively. The changing trend of shear wave velocity could help monitor the healing process of the parenchyma in the diseased gland after treatment. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4