[Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for sialolithiasis].

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) was undertaken on 11 patients with sialolithiasis. In three patients, fragmented calculi were excreted via the duct of the gland. In four patients, though fragmented calculi were excreted from the gland to the duct, complete disappearance was not achieved. It was therefore necessary to remove the fragmented calculi by intraoral ductotomy. However, without ESWL, submandibular glandectomy would have been unavoidable. As for the two patients who had an intraducted stone and the one patient who had a 20 mm stone in his submandibular gland, ESWL was not effective. No severe complications occurred either during or after ESWL. ESWL is beneficial for the treatment of salivary stones, especially of the intraglandular and transitional zone type, and for stones smaller than 10 mm.