SOCIAL IMPROVEMENT AFTER THE WILKE PROCEDURE FOR EXCESSIVE DROOLING

The child with an excessive drooling problem often faces similar socia l deprivation to those with severe craniofacial malformations. Many of these children have other ''strikes against them'' (such as cerebral palsy) that, when coupled with drooling, isolate them from social inte raction. Many methods have been employed to control drooling but surge ry has been most consistently successful. The most popular of these ha s been the Wilke procedure or a modification of it. Several series hav e been reported, but a detailed correlation of mechanical success with the effects on social activity has not been reported. We reviewed a s eries of 23 cases of Wilke-type surgery. Analysis of the results showe d a convincing improvement in social activity after successful surgery . The Wilke procedure enjoys a relatively high rate of success in prev enting excessive drooling, which seems to offer a dramatic improvement in social contact enjoyment.