Main theme: General
Introduction: Drooling is a common and distressing problem in children with neurological conditions, significantly impacting quality of life. Surgical interventions targeting the salivary glands are increasingly used when conservative measures fail, however the proportion of patients requiring ongoing medical therapy following surgery is not well characterised.
Aims: To evaluate the rate of post-operative medication use for drooling following surgical intervention in a paediatric cohort over a 10-year period.
Methods: A retrospective audit was conducted at a Tertiary Paediatric ENT unit. All patients under the age of 16 years undergoing surgery for drooling between 2016 and 2026 were identified. Relevant OPCS codes were used to classify procedures. Post-operative medication prescriptions were extracted and cross-referenced with surgical records.
Results: Median age at surgery was 4 years (range 0–16), with an equal sex distribution. 70 patients had a relevant surgical procedure. Following surgery, 61.4% of patients (n=43) required ongoing medical therapy for drooling, generating 1,362 post-operative medication records. 38.6% (n=27) have no further medication records.
Conclusion: Over 60% of children undergoing surgical intervention for drooling at our centre required ongoing medication post-operatively, suggesting that surgery alone may be insufficient. These findings highlight the need for robust multi-modal treatment pathways and structured long-term follow-up in this patient group.