Introduction
Salivary gland disorders are an important part of the practice of otolaryngologists
in hospitals. The treatment strategies depend, among other things, on the doctrinal
opinion at the respective location. The aim of the questionnaire-based data collection
was to assess the current practical implementation of the treatment of salivary gland
diseases in Germany.
Methods
The survey was implemented in the form of an online questionnaire with 25 questions.
For this purpose, invitation e-mails were sent to all German clinic directors and
responses were requested from one qualified person per clinic/hospital.
Results
A total of 161 clinics were contacted. Of these, 98 clinics participated. The participation
rate was 60.9%. The diagnosis of salivary gland tumors was dominated by sonography
and MRI. Fine needle aspiration and core needle aspiration were not performed by >50%
of the clinics. Parotidectomy under microscopic control is performed as the dominant
surgical technique (82%). 99% of clinics use EMG during resection of the parotid gland
an EMG for facialis monitoring. There is a trend toward performing partial (85%),
lateral parotidectomies (70%), and extracapsular dissections (57%) for suspect of
benign tumors of the parotid gland. Treatment of malignancies showed inconsistent
treatment concepts.
Conclusions
In particular, strategy of treatment and extent of surgery for benign and malignant
salivary gland tumors is chosen differently depending on the site. Palliative (drug)
therapy also remains diverse. Prospective multicenter studies could help develop evidence-based
treatment strategies.
Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Speicheldrüsen und Schilddrüsenerkrankungen
