David Upton '11

Parotidectomy: Ten year review of 237 cases at a single institution

OBJECTIVE: To review a single surgeon's experience with parotidectomy with an emphasis on examining the appropriate use of partial superficial parotidectomy and the differences in early outcomes observed with the various types/extent of parotidectomy employed.

METHODS: A series of 237 patients who underwent parotidectomy over a 10-year period was reviewed. The patients were assigned into one of 3 groups based on pathologic diagnosis: primary benign (PB), primary malignant (PM), and secondary cutaneous malignant (SCM).

RESULTS: Postoperative complications included facial nerve weakness (18%), sialocele (6.3%), wound infection (3.8%), hematoma (3.8%), and symptomatic Frey's syndrome (1.7%). More extensive surgical procedures including complete superficial or total parotidectomy (34%) were associated with a 2.7 times greater incidence of immediate postoperative facial nerve weakness compared to partial superficial parotidectomy (12.5%). The sensitivity of intraoperative frozen section was 96% and the specificity was 99%.

CONCLUSION: Partial superficial parotidectomy is associated with a decreased incidence of transient postoperative facial nerve weakness compared to more extensive procedures such as complete superficial or total parotidectomy. Intraoperative frozen section was an accurate means of selecting patients for the partial superficial parotidectomy procedure.

SIGNIFICANCE: Partial superficial parotidectomy is an effective method for treating benign tumors confined to the superficial lobe.

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Otolaryngology Surgery University of Wisconsin Department of Surgery
First published: 07/15/02 Last updated: 11/24/09 webmaster@surgery.wisc.edu
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