title: Technical tips for a cosmetic approach to parotid surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recently, skin incisions have tended to be smaller if surgical exposure is not greatly compromised, especially for benign lesions of the head and neck. An incision in a visible area of the neck needs to be moved to hidden or less prominent sites or away from the head and neck. For aesthetic considerations, the preauricular broken/postauricular trichophytic skin incision was developed for parotid surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective clinical study enrolled 36 patients (20 women and 16 men) with benign preneural parotid tumors. Six months after surgery, patients were specifically asked to rate their satisfaction with their postoperative appearance on a scale of 1 to 10, with higher scores meaning better patient satisfaction, and whether they would consent to the operation again.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All patients were satisfied with the cosmetic outcome: 24, 9, and 3 patients rated the procedure 8, 9, and 10, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The preauricular broken/postauricular trichophytic skin incision provides generous access to the parotid gland, which is at least as good as the access provided by a Blair incision. It is an aesthetically superior incision that allows good surgical access and improved contour reconstruction.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Maxillofacial Surgery, Head and Neck Department, Modena and Reggio Emilia University, Modena, Italy. attiliocarlo.salgarelli@unimore.it
authors.forename: Attilio Carlo
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Salgarelli
authors.forename: Pierantonio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bellini
authors.forename: Ugo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Consolo
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Collini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003357:Cosmetic Techniques; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010307:Parotid Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome