A comparison of one hundred and fifty consecutive parotidectomies for tumours and inflammatory disease.

The demographic profile and complications are compared and contrasted for 150 consecutive parotidectomies. All patients were under the care of one surgeon (JDL) over a twenty-year period (1977-1997). The case records and contemporaneous database were analysed retrospectively. 111 (74%) procedures were performed for tumours and 39 (26%) for inflammatory disease. The incidence of unexpected permanent facial nerve palsy was 1.8% in the tumour group and zero in the inflammatory group. The overall unexpected palsy rate was 1.3%. Transient paralysis was more common in the inflammatory group than the tumour group (61.5% compared with 33.3%, P<0.02) and was more likely to be panfacial (48.7% compared with 17.1%, P<0.0002). The overall incidence of Frey's syndrome was less than 20% and both salivary fistulae and sialocoeles were infrequent.