title: An audit of surgery for seventy-one primary parotid tumours.
abstract: Seventy-one consecutive patients who presented with lumps in the parotid gland over an eight year period (1981-1989) were analysed. Two-thirds of the patients presented with a history of swelling for over one year, while a quarter (24%) had a parotid mass for over five years at initial referral. The pathology of these masses was diverse, with pleomorphic adenoma being the commonest (64%). Superficial parotidectomy was the commonest procedure employed (50/71) with local excision being performed only in the initial part of our series (15/71). There were five cases of permanent facial palsy, four following radical resection for malignancy. Tumour recurrence rate was 2/15 (13%) in cases treated by local excision while none of the 50 patients treated by superficial parotidectomy had tumour recurrence at a mean follow-up of five years. Only three patients developed Frey's Syndrome. It is recommended that increased community awareness of early referral of a parotid mass is necessary, as surgical treatment in the form of superficial parotidectomy, which is the ideal procedure for such lumps, carries minimal morbidity when performed by a surgeon with a special interest in parotid surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Adelaide Hospital, Dublin.
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Kota
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Waldron
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caldwell
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Murchan
authors.forename: F B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Keane
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010307:Parotid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000706:statistics & numerical data