Morbidity of parotid gland surgery: results 1 year post-operative

Patients operated on for parotid gland tumours were evaluated prospectively to study morbidity after this procedure. Nowadays, major complications such as recurrence of tumour and permanent facial nerve paresis are rare after primary surgery. Therefore, this study especially takes minor complications such as Frey’s syndrome and sensory deficits into account. The study documents morbidity in 45 patients who completed a 1 year follow-up. Among those with primary benign tumours, we found no recurrences and no permanent paresis, nor did starch-iodine testing reveal any cases of Frey’s syndrome. However, two patients who had previously been operated on multiple times did test positive for Frey’s syndrome, as did two others after surgery for malignancy. Furthermore, we found that patients whose posterior branch of the great auricular nerve was sacrificed had a larger area of sensory deficit than those whose nerve was preserved. We conclude that the morbidity of parotid gland surgery can be reduced further by giving minor complications more attention.