Parotidectomy under local anesthesia--report of 7 cases.

OBJECTIVE

Parotidectomy is usually carried out under general anesthesia. We reported our early experience of performing parotidectomy under local anesthesia.

STUDY

DESIGN

Case series reviewed.

SETTING

Head and neck services of a regional hospital. PATIENTS, INTERVENTION, AND

RESULTS

Seven patients underwent parotidectomy under local anesthesia. The indications were high risk for general anesthesia due to co-morbidity in 2 patients and personal preference for the rest. The operations were performed by retrograde facial nerve dissection after superficial cervical plexus block and incision wound infiltration with local anesthetics. There was no conversion to general anesthesia. Six operations were carried out in the setting of ambulatory procedure and were discharged on the same day. Transient mild facial paresis occurred in 2 patients.

CONCLUSION

Parotidectomy under local anesthesia can be conducted successfully and avoid the adverse effect of general anesthesia.