http://www.nature.com/ncponc/journal/v1/n2/full/ncponc0030.html
Research Highlights

Nature Clinical Practice Oncology (2004) 1, 60-61
doi: 10.1038/ncponc0030
Preserving salivary output following head and neck irradiation

This article has no abstract so we have provided the first paragraph of the
full text.

Damage to the submandibular salivary glands is an important side effect of
head and neck radiation therapy. The resulting xerostomia causes problems with
chewing, swallowing and changes to the oral microbial flora, adversely
affecting the patient's quality of life. Pathak and colleagues have described
a technique for protecting the contralateral submandibular salivary gland from
radiation by transferring it to the submental space prior to treatment. This
approach has been used previously in patients undergoing neck dissection as
part of primary treatment. The new study, however, deals with those patients
not requiring neck dissection.
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http://jncicancerspectrum.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/medline/pmid;11210886
Laryngoscope 2001;111(2): 347-52

Submandibular gland transfer: a new method of preventing radiation-induced
xerostomia.

H Seikaly, N Jha, T McGaw, L Coulter, R Liu, and D Oldring

Division of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Canada.
[email munged]

OBJECTIVE: Radiation-induced xerostomia is a significant morbidity of
radiation therapy in the management of patients with head and neck cancers. We
have recently reported a method of transfer of one submandibular gland to the
submental space in a small pilot series of eligible surgical patients. The
submental space was shielded during postoperative radiation therapy. The
transferred gland continued to function after the completion of radiation
therapy and none of the patients developed xerostomia. The purpose of this
article is to present the technique of submandibular gland transfer in detail
and to evaluate the postoperative survival and function of the transferred
submandibular glands. DESIGN: Prospective clinical trial.

METHODS: The submandibular gland was transferred on eligible patients as part
of their surgical intervention. The patients were followed clinically, with
salivary flow and radioisotope studies.

RESULTS: We performed the surgical transfer of the submandibular salivary
gland in 24 of 25 patients placed on the protocol. All the glands survived
transfer and functioned well postoperatively as demonstrated on the salivary
flow and the radioisotope studies. The surgical transfer was relatively simple
and added 45 minutes to the surgical procedure. There were no complications
attributed to the submandibular gland transfer.

CONCLUSIONS: We have successfully demonstrated that the submandibular gland
can be surgically transferred to the submental space with its function
preserved. The gland seems to continue functioning even after radiation
therapy with the appropriate shielding. This surgical transfer procedure has
the potential to change the way we currently manage patients with head and
neck cancer.

http://www.cancerboard.ab.ca/research/research_new.html
Submandibular salivary gland transfer
Dr. Naresh Jha and Dr. Hadi Seikaly pioneered an innovative procedure to
reduce xerostomia, or 'dry-mouth.' induced by radiation therapy in patients
with head and neck cancers in 2000. ACB is now able to make available via the
Internet three short QuickTime videos describing the submandibular salivary
gland transfer which has proven effective to reduce xerostomia.

You will need the free QuickTime player, which can be downloaded from Apple by
clicking here. Follow the instructions on the website to download this free
application.

The video files are quite large and may take some time to download to your
computer. Please be patient.

Part One -- Pre-operative explanation (8.92 MB, 1:13 in length)
Part Two -- Operation (22.6 MB, 2:03 in length)
Part Three -- Post-operative (2.49 MB, 0:37 seconds in length)

A 37 minute teaching video detailing the procedure is available on CD-ROM. If
you would like a copy of the video, please request the same via e-mail from
Dr. Jha. For more information about Dr. Jha, click here.

I found one a while back in The Laryngoscope (journal) that's similar, but
apparently earlier:

Submandibular Gland Transfer: A New Method of Preventing Radiation-Induced
Xerostomia.
Laryngoscope. 111(2):347-352, February 2001.
Seikaly, Hadi MD; Jha, Naresh MBBS; McGaw, Timothy DDS,MD; Coulter, Linda RN;
Liu, Richard MD; Oldring, Derald MD

PubMed:
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1
1210886&dopt=Citation>

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Full text available to members there.