## 3 Results
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Mean No. of**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Group A**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Group B**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**\(p\)-Value** *} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Tot.**} \\
**Episodes \(\pm\) SD** & & & & \\ \hline
**T1** & 27.3 \(\pm\) 38.8 & 22.1 \(\pm\) 33.5 & n.s. & 25.5 \(\pm\) 37.0 \\
**T2** & 39.5 \(\pm\) 67.5 & 43.9 \(\pm\) 10.3 & n.s. & 41.0 \(\pm\) 67.1 \\
**T4** & 10.4 \(\pm\) 24.5 & 0.6 \(\pm\) 0.7 & 0.011 & 7.1 \(\pm\) 20.5 \\
**T5** & 21.9 \(\pm\) 52.6 & 1.1 \(\pm\) 0.9 & 0.010 & 15.0 \(\pm\) 44.0 \\
**T6** & 33.9 \(\pm\) 87.5 & 0.6 \(\pm\) 0.70 & 0.010 & 22.8 \(\pm\) 73.0 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Legend: No. = number; SD = standard deviation; n.s. = not significant; *: statistical significance set at 0.0125 based on Bonferroni correction for multiple test comparisons.  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Mean number of episodes of salivary gland swelling in the study groups in the study period. When subgroup analysis was performed by considering the main diagnostic groups, a significantly reduced number of postoperative episodes of salivary gland swelling after repeated DSIs compared to interventional sialendoscopy alone was found in patients with sialendoscopic evidence of type 1 or 3 stenoses and in those without mucous plugs, at any T (Table 3). These findings were confirmed by multivariate logistic regression analysis, while all the other clinical and demographic variables tested (i.e., age, gender, the affected gland and side, and the number of pathological findings detected at interventional sialendoscopy) were not confounders of the postoperative number of salivary gland swelling episodes (Table 4). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Time**} & **Sialendoscopic** & \multirow{2}{*}{**Group A**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Group B**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**\(p\)-Value**} \\  & **Finding** & & & & \\ \hline
**T1** & Mucous plugs & Yes & \(35.7\pm 11.7\) & \(13.0\pm 1.0\) & n.s. \\  & No & \(55.6\pm 14.6\) & \(36.9\pm 13.1\) & n.s. \\ \cline{2-6}  & Sialodochitis & Yes & \(27.0\pm 12.6\) & \(26.9\pm 14.0\) & n.s. \\  & No & \(52.0\pm 11.8\) & \(43.5\pm 20.4\) & n.s. \\ \cline{2-6}  & Type 1 or 3 stenoses & Yes & \(42.8\pm 22.1\) & \(38.6\pm 17.4\) & n.s. \\  & No & \(39.7\pm 10.1\) & \(30.0\pm 16.8\) & n.s. \\ \hline
**T2** & Mucous plugs & Yes & \(25.1\pm 6.7\) & \(7.0\pm 0.2\) & n.s. \\  & No & \(38.7\pm 8.3\) & \(13.4\pm 6.6\) & n.s. \\ \cline{2-6}  & Sialodochitis & Yes & \(23.8\pm 9.2\) & \(13.3\pm 7.1\) & n.s. \\  & No & \(34.4\pm 6.5\) & \(21.8\pm 10.2\) & n.s. \\ \cline{2-6}  & Type 1 or 3 stenoses & Yes & \(43.2\pm 12.5\) & \(29.2\pm 8.7\) & n.s. \\  & No & \(28.0\pm 5.8\) & \(15.0\pm 8.5\) & n.s. \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: Mean number of episodes of salivary gland swelling in the study groups during the study period according to sialendoscopic findings. Figure 3: Graphical representation of the mean number of episodes of salivary gland swelling over time. Overall, a good level of subjective satisfaction was reported by the patients as a whole at the end of treatments (T6), as attested by a mean VAS satisfaction = 7.5 \(\pm\) 2.8, with a better outcome attested in patients belonging to group B compared to those in group A (8.4 \(\pm\) 1.1 vs. 6.9 \(\pm\) 3.2; \(p\)-value \(<\) 0.01). In addition, the postoperative occurrence of new-onset salivary gland-related complaints was more frequently detected in patients belonging to group A than in those belonging to group B (35/60, 58.3% vs. 16/62, 25.8%; \(p\)-value = 0.01).