[Facial nerve dysfunction after various surgical managements for benign parotid tumor].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the incidence of facial nerve dysfunction following parotidectomy and the relationship of the extent of parotid gland resection and the histopathology types. METHODS: Clinical observation of 99 patients who underwent parotid surgery from 1996 to 2000 was studied to analyse the relation between facial nerve dysfunction and the extent of parotidectomy with House-Backmann grading system. RESULTS: The overall incidence of facial dysfunction (HB > 1) was 36.4% for temporary and 3% for permanent dysfunction; Most of the dysfunction were partial and most concerning the marginal mandibular branch (34/99). The temporary facial dysfunction rate in total parotidectomy is higher than that of superficial and local parotidectomy. CONCLUSION: The dysfunction of facial nerve branches is correlated with the surgical managements. The most facial never dysfunction is temporary. The size of the lesion and the histopathology types will influence the choice of surgical managements. A proper surgical managements would reduce the incidence of facial dysfunction.