Abstract

This article presents 92 cases (117 diseased parotid glands) of chronic obstructive parotitis with studies by clinical, sialographical, sequential quantitative scintigraphy methods and with investigation of the treatment. The nature of this disease is that various local factors cause obstruction of saliva flow resulting in recurrent swelling of parotid, in which the main feature in sialography is irregular dilatation of the main duct and branch duct. Sialographical manifestations can be divided into four types. Conservative, operative therapy and injection into diseased gland with 1% methyl violet are introduced to treat this disease. Long follow-up findings show that type I in sialography can be cured by conservative method, but other types to not respond to this method and should be treated by other methods, such as parotidectomy. We have used 1% methyl violet to treat cases who have swelling of parotid after conservative therapy. It is considered to be a simple, practical and good method and should only be used in this disease. There are no other side effects except swelling of parotid for a few weeks. Especially it can be used to treat the anterior part of main duct left over by parotidectomy, which still gives off purulent discharge.