Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate if drooling recurrence after surgery of the submandibular ducts is due to surgical failure or other variables. METHODS: Historic cohort with prospective collected data of all patients with severe drooling who underwent unsuccessful submandibular duct surgery with subsequent re-intervention between 2003 and 2018. A reference cohort was used for comparison of clinical variables. RESULTS: Six males and 4 females were included (cerebral palsy n=8, neurodevelopmental disorders n=2). All patients underwent submandibular gland surgery as a primary intervention (duct ligation n=8, submandibular duct relocation n=2) followed by re-intervention (submandibular gland excision n=7, parotid duct ligation n=3). One patient underwent tertiary surgery (parotid duct ligation after re-intervention by submandibular gland excision). Three patients were successful after re-intervention. No difference was found between both re-intervention techniques. There was significantly more severe dental malocclusion (50% vs. 21%, P value=0.047) and severe speech disorders (80% vs. 42%, P value=0.042) in the current cohort when compared to the reference cohort. CONCLUSION: Recurrence of drooling surgery is most likely not caused by surgical failure of the primary intervention, because re-intervention (submandibular gland excision) did not lead to more success. Dysarthria and dental malocclusion might negatively influence treatment outcome.
