Table 1.

Evidence from the literature

	Stimson, 19832	Mihail, 19873	Goodson, 20124	Ord, 19965	Present study
Number of patients	41	58	82 (41 floor of mouth or ventral tongue)	13	52
Surgery   Laser   Monopolar   Scalpel	Not mentioned	10 (17%) 12 (21%) 36 (62%)	82 (100%)	Not mentioned	39 (75%) 13 (25%)
Ducts repositioned	27/41 (66%)	0/58 (0%)	0/41 (0%)	13/13 (100%)	15/52 (29%)
Submandibular gland symptoms	7/41 (17%)	9/47 (19%)	20/41 (49%)	2/13 (15%)	15/52 (29%)
Outcomes	Lower occurrence of symptoms when the duct was redirected intraoperatively	No significant difference between surgical modalities (laser vs monopolar) in terms of symptoms	16/20 (80%) managed conservatively; 4/20 (20%) had ducts redirected	2/13 (15%) developed symptoms when ducts were repositioned	14/15 (93%) managed conservatively