An insight into ultrasonography of salivary glands: A review

A number of imaging techniques are useful in the assessment of the salivary glands, namely, plain film radiography, sialography, ultrasonography (USG), radionuclide imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, and computed tomography. One of the most common salivary gland imaging modalities is USG, which helps in obtaining information regarding salivary gland pathologies successfully with good accuracy. USG is the best at differentiating between intraand extra-glandular masses as well as between cystic and solid lesions, local nodal metastases, and local invasion in case of tumors. USG can demonstrate the presence of an abscess in an acutely inflamed gland, as well as sialoliths, which appear as echogenic densities that exhibit acoustic shadowing. In this review, authors have focused on the role of USG in imaging salivary glands in healthy and diseased states and their sonographic features.