Salivary glands can host a variety of pathologies, ranging from benign disease and stones to malignant tumours.

The team at head and neck surgery have a vast experience at managing all of these conditions and are core Surgical Members of the Salivary Gland Service at Guys Hospital.

If you have a salivary gland problem, it’s recommended you see an expert in head and neck surgery from the start because frequently we encounter patients who’s overall outcome has unfortunately been compromised through poor treatment decisions. This can occur with all head and neck presentations but is particularly pertinent to salivary gland diseases.

The reason for this is that considerable experience is often required to distinguish between malignant and benign conditions. The surgery is approached in a different way and its far better to get it right first time. Salivary gland surgery carries risks to important adjacent structures including the facial nerve which is responsible for moving the muscles of the face involved with smiling and eye closure. With repeat surgery the risks of damage and injury are increased.

Our team are at the forefront of the latest techniques in nerve preservation including facial nerve monitoring to achieve an extremely low rate of permanent nerve injury. In the last 2 years we have performed over x number of salivary gland operations with no permanent facial nerve injury – including complex cancers and re-do operations.

Salivary gland conditions

• Salivary Stones
• Salivary Tumours