Surgical Techniques after Parotidectomy to Prevent Frey’s Syndrome and Depression Deformity

Parotidectomy is the first choice to treat parotid gland tumors. Of all the salivary gland neoplasms, parotid gland one occurs at a high incidence. In patients with parotid gland tumor, parotidectomy has been commonly done. It is therefore of great concern that such patients would present with such postoperative complications as Frey s syndrome and depression deformity that may cause considerable social incapicity. To prevent the occurrence of these complications, various techniques including interpositional barrier between the remnant parotid gland tissue and the overlying skin have been developed. However, there are no established modalities in this series, each of which has its own merits and demerits. In this article, we provide a review of the surgical techniques that have been performed up to present after parotidectomy to prevent Frey s syndrome and depression deformity.