An Overview of Parotidectomy for Benign Parotid Lesions with Special Reference to Perioperative Techniques to Avoid...

The aim of this analytical study was to assess the reduction in intra- and post-operative complications of parotid surgeries for benign lesions following simple surgical steps and to compare the outcome with the literature. A retrospective study of 77 patients requiring parotidectomy surgery for benign parotid lesions was conducted in Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Sri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, Dehradun from the period of January 2011 to January 2016. Patients were followed up for 1-5 years and serial evaluation was done for all cases who developed any of intra- or post-operative complications in their disease course. The ages of presentation varied from 1.5 to 70 years. There were 51 males and 26 female patients. Majority cases were of pleomorphic adenoma followed by warthins tumor. Superficial parotidectomy was done in 69 patients; 4 cases required near total parotidectomy while total conservative parotidectomy was done in 4 cases. The commonest complication was altered sensations around the ear which was seen in 10 cases followed by temporary facial nerve paresis and sialocele formation which occurred in 3 cases each. This study advocates the importance of detailed anatomical knowledge, behavior of various benign pathologies, experience of surgeon and his fine dissection techniques to ensure minimum risks of injury to important structures in surgical field.