Background: Parotid gland tumors account for 80% of all salivary gland neoplasms, 20% of these are malignant, but
in daily clinical practice most parotid masses are operated on before obtaining the final histological diagnosis. This
clinical setting further complicates the critical point of parotid surgery, which is the management of the facial nerve.
Materials and methods: 45 patients underwent parotidectomy for benign and malignant neoplasms. A complete
history is collected from the patients with the duration and the site of the tumor, the facial nerve examined and its
associations, a medical consultation done for opinion and management. Clinical examination with facial nerve was
mandatory to avoid any mistakes that may occur. The most significant single parameter in this series of malignancies
regarding disease specific survival was the clinical involvement of the facial nerve. Also for this reason, as there is no
evidence that the facial nerve sacrifice improves prognosis, when it is not clinically involved, every attempt is made
to dissect and preserve it. A treatment plan was contemplated regarding nerve preservation for malignancy or with
nerve sacrifice.
Result: This study showed that females (62%) are more affected than males (38%),tumors occur at left parotid gland
(65%) more than right parotid gland (35%), a malignancy affected the left parotid gland more than the right one
and a malignancy affected females more than males. Pleomorphic adenomas are the most frequent benign tumors
while the adenocarcinoma most frequent malignant tumors.
Conclusion: The most complicated situation concerning nerve preservation may be the recurrence of a benign
tumor, in particular pleomorphic adenoma, which, in our series, has a higher incidence (62.5%) of permanent facial
dysfunction, than surgery with nerve preservation for malignancy (37.5%) and to resects the nerve when is clinically
involved and when is totally embedded in a clearly malignant neoplasm with attempt to preserve it in all other |