Acute unilateral parotid gland swelling after lateral decubitus position under general anesthesia

Acute swelling of the parotid gland after general anesthesia (commonly known as anesthesia mumps or acute postoperative sialadenitis) is a rare but declared complication of anesthesia. The etiology is not clear, but some possible causes such as obstruction of glandular excretory ducts caused by patient position and increase in the viscosity of the saliva because of acute dehydratation and/or medications like atropin have been proposed. We report a swelling in the left preauricular and postauricular region extending to the angle of the mandibule in a 35-year-old patient after left lateral decubitus position for laparoscopic nephrectomy.