[Pneumatic intracorporeal lithotripsy of salivary calculi. In vitro and animal experiment studies].
BACKGROUND
The effort to use minimally invasive strategies in the treatment of human sialolithiasis in principle seems to allow the clinical application of pneumatic lithotripsy because of the small diameters of the probes involved. While this kind of therapy is already used successfully in urology, we investigated the method during in vitro and animal experiments.


METHODS
The treatment of stones and tissue utilized the pneumatic lithotripter "Lithoclast". This system works with ballistic energy and is similar to a biologic "pneumatic hammer". Thirty salivary calculi were treated with pneumatic lithotripsy. Four submandibular salivary glands and their ducts were removed intraoperatively and were exposed to the pneumatic probes. Moreover, in two cases a salivary concretion was also implanted prior to pneumatic lithotripsy. In two rabbits the ducts of the parotid glands were ligated for 2 weeks. On the basis of the in vitro experiments, concretions were placed in two of the four salivary ducts. Following this, the pneumatic probes were inserted along the ducts and lithotripsy was completed.


RESULTS
All of the 30 salivary calculi were reduced to sizes smaller than 1.5 mm in diameter. No macroscopic or microscopic damage was detectable while the probe was in a duct. However, in both cases with implanted calculi retropulsion of fragments occurred consequent perforation of the ducts. After application of ballistic pulses along the duct, small periductal hematoma without any perforation were detected macroscopically. Microscopically, only small bleeding was observed along the submucosa and partial loss of epithelium was found. In contrast, the pulse application to the implanted concretions lead to destruction of the calculi with perforation of the ducts as well as hemorrhage in the surrounding tissue.


CONCLUSIONS
The method of pneumatic lithotripsy used in the present study resulted in sufficient destruction of salivary calculi. In vitro and in vivo lithotripsy of duct implanted calculi led to perforation of the salivary duct in all cases. Because of these results, the clinical use of this technique to treat human sialolithiasis appears to be not justified.
Iro
H
H
Klinik und Poliklinik für Hals-Nasen-Ohrenkranke, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
Benzel
W
W
Göde
U
U
Zenk
J
J
D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008096:Lithotripsy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010306:Parotid Gland / Q000473:pathology; D011817:Rabbits; D012465:Salivary Duct Calculi / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D013363:Submandibular Gland / Q000473:pathology
Pneumatische intra-korporale Lithotripsie von Speichelsteinen. In-vitro- und tierexperimentelle Untersuchungen.