TABLE 6.
Complications, stratified by approach to parotidectomy and tumor pathology
| Complication | Partial/superficial parotidectomy | Total parotidectomy | Revision parotidectomy | Other | Total | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benign | ||||||
| Selective nerve branch sacrifice | 11 (2.4%) | 10 (6.3%) | 1 (2.9%) | 1 (10%) | 23 (3.5%) | <.0001 |
| Short‐term nerve weakness a | 12 (2.7%) | 16 (10.7%) | 6 (18.2%) | 0 (0%) | 34 (5.4%) | <.0001 |
| Long‐term nerve weakness a | 4 (0.9%) | 2 (1.3%) | 2 (6.1%) | 0 (0%) | 8 (1.3%) | .005 |
| Malignant | ||||||
| Selective nerve branch sacrifice | 24 (16.3%) | 61 (58.1%) | 5 (35.7%) | 1 (33.3%) | 91 (33.8%) | <.0001 |
| Short‐term nerve weakness b | 8 (6.5%) | 9 (20.5%) | 2 (22.2%) | 0 (0%) | 19 (10.7%) | <.0001 |
| Long‐term nerve weakness b | 3 (2.4%) | 2 (4.5%) | 1 (11.1%) | 0 (0%) | 6 (3.4%) | .521 |
a
Calculated only for benign tumor patients without intentional selective nerve branch sacrifice intraoperatively, N = 440 for partial parotidectomy, N = 150 for total parotidectomy, N = 33 for revision parotidectomy, N = 9 for other.
b
Calculated only for malignant tumor patients without intentional selective nerve branch sacrifice intraoperatively, N = 123 for partial parotidectomy, N = 44 for total parotidectomy, N = 9 for revision parotidectomy, N = 2 for other.
Bold denotes significant variables p < 0.05.