Salivary side effects after radioiodine treatment for differentiated papillary thyroid carcinoma: Long-term study

Background Although many studies focus on short-term side effects of radioiodine therapy, almost none studied long-term side effects. We assessed radioiodine long-term salivary side effects after radioiodine treatment for differentiated papillary thyroid carcinoma and compared it to short-term morbidity within the same population. Methods A standardized self-administrated questionnaire was submitted in 2019 by patients treated with radioiodine between January 2011 and December 2012. These patients had already answered the same questionnaire 6 years before. Results Our study showed a significant reduction for salivary side effects: discomfort in submandibular or parotid area, swelling, pain, a bad or salty taste in the mouth, allowing to get back to a "normal" diet. Conclusions Our study suggests that a significant rate of patients will recover from I(131)therapy salivary side effects. As almost 30% of these remissions happened during our late stage follow-up, we highlight the necessity of a long-term follow-up in these patients.