What are the salivary glands?
Salivary glands are the organs that allow salivation, the production of saliva. We have major salivary glands which are the parotid, submaxillary and sublingual glands and then minor salivary glands which are distributed throughout the mouth, the lips, the throat, the palate and which provide moisture to the whole mouth at all times.
What diseases affect the salivary glands and what symptoms do they cause?
The salivary glands can suffer from inflammatory diseases and infectious diseases, which produce an increase in the size of the gland, pain and in some cases purulent secretion. In other cases there may be obstructive diseases where there is a calculus, a small stone, which obstructs the duct through which the saliva has to exit, then the salivary gland swells again and pain may also occur. In the case of tumor diseases, these are tumors located in one of these glands and what is noticed is a palpable lump in that gland.
In what cases is surgical intervention necessary, does it always involve removal?
In cases in which we have some obstruction in the salivary glands it may be necessary to perform an intervention that would consist of opening the duct to remove the stone that produces the obstruction or in some cases in which the deterioration of the salivary gland is already very pronounced, it may be necessary to remove the affected gland. In cases of tumors it will always be necessary to remove the gland in its entirety to ensure sufficient surgical margins to achieve the removal and cure of the tumor with guarantees.
What is salivary gland surgery like and what complications does it present?
Surgery for tumors of the major salivary glands is a major surgery that will require hospitalization and in most cases general anesthesia. In the case of the parotid gland it is an external approach surgery, in front of the ear, which will require the localization of the facial nerve trunk and the monitoring of its branches to avoid the most feared complication in these cases, which is facial paralysis, even if it is transitory, which means the weakness of a part of the face and the absence of movement in that part of the face. In the case of the submaxillary gland we will have to locate the mandibular branch of the facial nerve and the lingual nerve, which will allow us to avoid leaving one half of the tongue insensitive. In the case of the sublingual gland whose approach is inside the mouth, we will also have to locate the lingual nerve at the end of the resection to also avoid the possibility of anesthesia of the lack of sensitivity in the middle of the tongue.
Therefore these are delicate surgeries that require expert hands and well trained in this type of surgery.