Browsing by Author "Witt, Robert"

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    Sialolithiasis: Traditional & Sialendocopic Techniques
    (University of Cape Town, 2025-03-23) Witt, Robert; Edkins, Oskar; Fagan, Johan
    Sialoliths vary in size, shape, texture, and consistency; they may be solitary or multiple. Obstructive sialadenitis with or without sialolithiasis represents the main inflammatory disorder of the major salivary glands. Approximately 80% of sialolithiasis involves the submandibular glands, 20% occurs in the parotid gland, and less than 1% is found in the sublingual gland. Patients typically present with painful swelling of the gland at mealtimes when obstruction caused by the calculus becomes most acute. When conservative management with sialogogues, massage, heat, fluids and antibiotics fails, then sialolithiasis needs to be surgically treated by transoral, sialendoscopic and sialendoscopy assisted techniques; or as a last resort, excision of the affected gland (sialadenectomy).