Vol.98 No.2 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 98 No. 2 February 2005
Transoral Removal of Submandibular Stones
in the Transitional Region
Yo Kishimoto, Kazuhiko Shoji, Satoshi Ikegami,
Atsuhito Takahashi and Tsuyoshi Kojima
(Tenri Hospital)
Shinji Suzuki
(Suzuki Oto-rhino-laryngology)
Shinpei Urabe and Yuka Iwahashi
(Shimane Prefectural Central Hospital)
Conventionally, in surgical treatment for submandibular sialolithiasis, removal of the gland has been performed for stones in the gland and transitional region, and transoral removal for ductal stones. Recently, we removed stones in the transitional region using the transoral method under general anesthesia. Transoral removal does not leave surgical scars in the neck and cause facial or hypoglossal nerve injury in comparison with those after gland resection. There is only a risk of lingual nerve injury, but we can avoid such injury with careful procedure. There was no significant difference in surgical duration or intra-operative blood loss between transoral removal and gland resection in our series. Therefore, we conclude that transoral removal should be the first choice for the removal of stones in the transitional region, because of the advantages cited above.
Key words : transoral removal, transitional region, sialolithiasis