Sialoendoscopy

OBJECTIVE: To detect prognostic factors for successful sialoendoscopic removal of salivary stones. DESIGN: Retrospective case series. SETTING: Tertiary referral hospital. PATIENTS: Forty-nine consecutive patients who underwent sialoendoscopy for sialolithiasis between January 1, 2008, and January 1, 2010, at University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. INTERVENTIONS: Diagnostic and interventional sialoendoscopy using local anesthesia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Stone removal rate, size, mobility, shape, and location, as well as clinical follow-up data. RESULTS: Sixty-one percent (39 of 64) of all salivary stones were removed endoscopically. The cutoff point for endoscopic removal was between 5 and 6 mm in stone diameter. Small size, good mobility, round or oval, and distal location of a salivary stone were positive prognostic factors for sialoendoscopic removal, with sialolith mobility having the greatest effect in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Small size, good mobility, round or oval, and distal location of a salivary stone in the main duct predict significantly greater probability of endoscopic removal and consequently are positive prognostic factors.