Publication:

Deep lobe parotid tumors in a tertiary care center

Background Salivary gland tumors are uncommon, accounting for between 2 to 6.5 percent of all neoplasms of the head and neck. About 70% of all salivary gland tumors arise in the parotid gland and a great number of these are benign tumors, with an average prevalence of 75%-85%.Parotid gland can give rise to a wide variety of neoplasms because of their mixed array of cells and tissues. Involvement of deep lobe is common in malignancy.

Methods The aim of the study is to analyze the deep lobe involvement in parotid tumors and to study incidence of facial nerve injury in deep lobe parotid tumors. Our study is a prospective study done between April 2012 to October 2014 in the Department of General Surgery, Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, Tamilnadu.

Results In our study in about 36% of the tumors, the deep lobe was involved and facial nerve injury was present in 55.5% of the patients.

Conclusions We conclude that deep lobe involvement in parotid tumors are rare and identifying it by clinical and imaging modalities plays an important role in reducing the perioperative complications like facial nerve injury.