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Electrophysiologic assessment of the subclinical changes in facial functions after parotidectomy
Cengiz Durucu1, Erkan Karatas, Remzi Yigiter
1Department of Otolaryngology Head Neck Surgery, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkey. cdurucu@yahoo.com
Objective:
Our objective was to evaluate whether there was a subclinical change in the functions of the facial nerve after parotidectomy.
Methods:
Facial nerve functions of 21 patients who had parotidectomy between January 1999 and December 2003 were assessed using electromyography (EMG) at least 5 years after the surgery.
Results:
There was no significant difference between both sides of the face in the EMG amplitudes (P > 0.05) except for the amplitudes obtained from the site of nasolabial sulcus (P < 0.05). In the patients who underwent total parotidectomy, the EMG amplitudes were significantly different for both sides of the face (P < 0.05). No significant difference was found in the comparison of other measurements performed by EMG.
Conclusions:
Tumor histopathologic type (benign or malignant) and type of parotidectomy (superficial or total) do not cause a subclinical dysfunction of the facial nerve after parotidectomy in the patients who also have clinically normal facial functions. The only exception to this contention is the subclinical dysfunction in nasal branches of the facial nerve in total parotidectomy cases.
