Symptomatic sialoadenitis and sialolithiasis in the English population, anestimate of the cost of hospital treatment

Objective To establish the annual incidence, and cost of treating, symptoma tic salivary stones and sialoadenitis. Materials and methods Data relating to sialolithiasis and sialoadenitis wer e obtained from the Department of Health with respect to the 15 health regi ons in England during the period 1991-1995. These were analysed to obtain t he mean incidence per annum. The proportions of each condition treated on a n inpatient and out-patient basis were also calculated. A survey of hospita l fees was undertaken to determine the national cost for treating these two conditions. Results In the period the mean incidence of hospital admission for symptoma tic sialoadenitis and sialolithiasis in the 15 health regions in England wa s 27.5 (19-46) and 31.5 (26-37) per million population per annum respective ly. During this time there was a slight shift toward day case treatment. Conclusions Based on hospital admission data for the period 1991-1995 the m ean incidence of symptomatic sialolithiasis is relatively low being at leas t 27 per million population per annum and possibly as much as 59 per millio n population per annum. This represents a cost to the National Health Servi ce of up to pound 4,000,000 per annum.