Pattern of Distribution in Facial Nerve in the Benign Parotid Gland Tumors

Nader Saki¹, Soheila Nikakhlagh^1*, Lila Mashali², Soad Fazeli³

¹Associated professor of otolaryngology, Head and neck surgery, Hearing and Speech Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran ²Assistant Prof. of otolaryngology, Head and neck surgery, Hearing and Speech Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences,  Ahvaz, Iran ³Medical Student, Hearing and Speech Research Center,  Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran *Corresponding author Email: nikakhlagh.s@gmail.com  

Abstract: Generally in any parotid surgery it is necessary to identify the trunk and branches of the facial nerve. For damage to this nerve or its branches may have irreparable consequences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency of anatomical variation of facial nerve branching in patients undergoing parotid surgery. 94 patients undergone parotid surgery in Imam Khomeini Hospital of Jondishapur University of Ahvaz from September 2011 to September 2014 were studied. All patients had benign unilateral parotid surgery. During surgery and dissection, the parotid glands of the patients were photographed and the anatomy of the facial nerve and its branches in the parotid glands of patients were interpreted.  The schematic picture of the anatomy of the facial nerve within the parotid gland was drawn. The images were divided into three groups: type A, B and C. The number of patients with a variety of nerve type A was 25, type B, 47 and type C, 22. The comparison between the nerve and sex using the Chi-square test showed that there is no significant relationship between gender and type of nerve (P value = 0.6). The range of the patients’ age was 25-65 years. In this study no new landmark was found and of the 94 patients, 25 (26%) were type A, 47 (50%) type B and 22 (24%) type C. In the parotid surgery, if the anatomical variation of facialnerve is kept in the mind, theadverse effectsand damage tothe facial nerveand its branches can beavoided. More accurateand completestudyof theanatomicalnervebranching can benefitalltypes of surgeryinvolvedin thearea.

Keywords: Parotid Gland Tumor; Facial Nerve; Anatomical Variation of Branches

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