Retrospective Analysis of 136 Patients Operated for a Parotid Global Tumor

While salivary gland tumors constitute 5-6% of all head and neck tumors, they constitute 2-3% of all trunk tumors. About 3.8 per 100,000 of parotid tumors are diagnosed in the US each year, about 1300 to 1600 cases. The salivary gland cancer rate is 0.9 per 10000. The frequency of salivary gland tumors varies according to localization.

In our study, we aimed to evaluate retrospectively the histopathological results, incidence, surgical treatment modalities and complications of parotid tumors operated in our clinic.

We examined the patients who were operated for parotid gland tumor. The files of 136 patients who were admitted to the Otorhinolaryngology department of Dicle University Medical Faculty Hospital between January 2010 and April 2020 due to a parotid mass and underwent parotidectomy and whose pathology results were reported as benign or malignant parotid tumors were retrospectively scanned and included in the study. Patients' age, gender, FNAB cytology result, type of surgery, histopathological results after surgery and complications after surgical treatment were recorded.

A total of 136 patients, 73 (53.7%) male and 63 (46.3%) female, were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 48.26±17.37 (min=14, max=83) years. Superficial parotidectomy was performed in 108 (79.4%) patients and total parotidectomy was performed in 28 (20.6%) patients. According to the histopathological results after surgery, 108 (79.4%) benign tumors and 28 (20.6%) malignant tumors were diagnosed. Accordingly, pleomorphic adenoma (47.8%) was the second most common with 65 patients, followed by Whartin tumor (25.7%) with 35 patients. The sensitivity (sensitivity) of FNAB was 85.2%, and the specificity (specificity) was 96.2%. The accuracy of FNAB was found to be 94.0%.

Good identification of the parotid mass preoperatively, together with both FNAB and radiological imaging methods, gains much more value in differentiating malignant and benign pathologies. While superficial parotidectomy is mostly sufficient in benign tumors, total parotidectomy-radical parotidectomy in malignant tumors and neck dissection should be considered in high-grade tumors even if there is no neck metastasis. Patients should be evaluated for RT and CT according to the tumor type after surgery.