Technical refinements in surgical treatment of benign parotid tumours

Over the last 15 years, a number of techniques have been developed that make it possible to treat benign parotid tumours surgically with virtually no morphofunctional sequelae. Given that the main objectives of the intervention are the complete removal of the lesion as well as isolation and preservation of the facial nerve and its branches, the authors recommend the following procedure: a face-lifting type of incision in order to disguise the cutaneous scar better; preservation of the posterior branch of the great auricular nerve, in order to maintain the sensitivity of the ear lobe; coverage of the residual defect by means of a flap composed of superficial and deep temporalis fascia in order to reduce the postoperative depression in the parotid region and the onset of Frey's syndrome. (C) 1999 European Association for Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery.