• Yen-Chun Chen, Luong Huu Dang, Lung-Che Chen, Chi-Ching Chang, Deng-Yu Han, Chung-Huei Hsu, Yi-Fang Ding, Chin-Hui Su, and Shih-Han Hung.
• Department of Otolaryngology, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
• J Formos Med Assoc. 2021 Jan 1; 120 (1 Pt 2): 318-326.

Background/PurposeTo evaluate the therapeutic responsiveness of office-based salivary gland ductal irrigation in patients with chronic sialoadenitis.MethodsBetween August 2017 and April 2019, 55 patients comprising the following three disease groups were enrolled: Sjogren's syndrome: 39 patients; postradiotherapy sialoadenitis: ten patients; and post-RAI sialoadenitis: six patients. Quantitative salivary scintigraphy was recorded, and a formulated questionnaire including the Summated Xerostomia Inventory was utilized to assess acute/chronic symptoms. All patients received at least three serial salivary gland ductal irrigations with a one-month interval in our outpatient department.ResultsThe general response rates for each disease groups are as follows: Sjogren's syndrome: 61.5% (24/39); postradiotherapy: 60% (6/10); and post-RAI: 83.3% (5/6). Among the patients with Sjogren's syndrome, the parotid scintigraphic Tmin showed a significant positive correlation with the responsiveness of salivary irrigation (P = 0.046), whereas the treatment tended to be irresponsive in patients who previously took medicine for their related discomfort (P = 0.009). In the postradiotherapy and post-RAI groups, no significant factors were found to be associated with the responsiveness of irrigation.ConclusionSimple salivary ductal irrigation without complex equipment can be performed as an outpatient procedure to alleviate glandular swelling or xerostomia in patients with Sjogren's syndrome, postradiotherapy sialoadenitis or post-RAI sialoadenitis, and it can be considered an alternative management approach for patients refractory to conventional strategies.Copyright © 2020 Formosan Medical Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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