PAROTID DUCT LACERATION REPAIR IN 2 HORSES

Repair of parotid duct lacerations in 2 horses is described using intr aluminal silastic tubing as a stent. The duct was lacerated traumatica lly at the facial vessel notch (incisura vasorum facialium) in the 1st horse, and iatrogenically after removal of an intraluminal sialolith after development of infection within the duct in the 2nd horse. In bo th cases, a silastic tube was passed retrograde into the duct aia the salivary papilla, past the wound until the end lay rostroventral to th e parotid salivary gland. The severed salivary ducts and the wounds we re sutured. The external portion of the silastic tube was sutured to t he skin and the tube left in place. Recovery in the 1st case was uneve ntful. In the 2nd case a salivary duct/cutaneous fistula formed at a w ound distant from the sutured wound, which healed spontaneously. This technique differs from a similar described technique in that the stent tube exits the oral cavity and is attached to the outer skin surface.