[Feasibility and efficacy of partial superficial parotidectomy with V-shaped incision]

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of partial superficial parotidectomy with V-shaped incision by comparing with the Blair incision and hairline N-shaped incision. Methods: From January 2015 to January 2016, 60 patients (47 males and 13 females, with an age range of 25- 63 years) required for superficial partial parotid gland resection were randomly divided into three groups: V-shaped incision (VI) group, Blair incision (BI) group and hairline N-shaped incision (NI) group, with 20 cases in each group.Intraoperative, postoperative and follow-up indexes were compared between three groups. Operative time and drainage volume in the surgery of tumors at different sites in VI group were compared. SPSS18.0 software was used for statistic analysis. Results: There were no statistically significant differences among the three groups in operative time, drainage volume, postoperative hospital stay, periauricular numbness, fistulas, pain score, facial palsy, and scar score at the 3rd month after surgery (P>0.05). For appearance satisfaction score at the 6th month after surgery, VI group was better than BI group or NI group, with significant differences(VI group vs. BI group: 9.00[8.00, 9.00] vs. 5.00[4.00, 5.25], χ(2)=6.629, P<0.001; VI group vs. NI group: 9.00[8.00, 9.00] vs. 7.00[6.00, 8.00], χ(2)=2.942, P=0.010; BI group vs. NI group: 5.00[4.00, 5.25] vs. 7.00[6.00, 8.00], χ(2)=-3.687, P=0.001). For tumors located in the front, upper and middle of parotid gland, there were no statistically significant differences in operative time and drainage volume between the three groups (P>0.05). For tumors located at the lower part of parotid gland, the difference in operative time between the three groups was statistically significant (F=7.278, P=0.01). With pairwise comparison, operative time in VI group was longer than that in BI group or NI group, but there was no significant difference between BI group and NI group (VI group vs. BI group: (181.00±22.89) min vs. (132.50±9.01) min, t=3.694, P=0.004; VI group vs. NI group:(181.00±22.89) min vs. (149.00±15.94) min, t=2.585, P=0.025; BIgroup vs. NI group, (132.50±9.01) min vs. (149.00±15.94) min, t=1.257, P=0.235). For tumors located at the lower part of parotid gland, the differences in intraoperative drainage volume were not statistically significant between three groups (P>0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in operative time and drainage volume in the surgery of tumors at different sites in VI group (P>0.05). Conclusions: By use of V-shaped incision for the surgery of benign parotid gland tumors, the operation time of tumors located only in the lower part of the parotid gland will be prolonged. For tumors in different sites without increasing surgical complications, this modality can get good cosmetic effect.