Intra-parotid Course and Variations in the Branching Pattern of Facial Nerve : Our Experience

© Association of Otolaryngologists of India 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law..

Facial nerve is responsible for the facial expressions and its preservation during parotidectomy is an important aspect for the operating surgeon. The nerve has a long course and the terminal part traverses through the parotid gland. The branching pattern of the nerve within the gland is highly complex and variable, making parotidectomy a challenging surgery. A cross-sectional record based study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital of a medical college in north India between November 2020 and December 2021 with an aim to describe the branching pattern of the facial nerve within the parotid gland. Patients of all age groups and both genders who underwent superficial parotidectomy for benign parotid gland tumors were taken into consideration. The branching pattern of the nerve was observed and recorded. Twenty patients were included in the study. In seventy percent cases the nerve divided into two main branches whereas in the rest, three branches emerged. In sixty five percent cases, the upper division (temporofacial) further divided into two branches whereas in rest it divided into three. The lower division (cervicofacial) divided into two subdivisions in majority of the cases. Multiple communications were found in the branches given off from the upper division and buccal branch had the most variable origin. A knowledge of branching pattern and the communications between the branches of facial nerve helps in avoiding an iatrogenic injury during parotidectomy and preserving the nerve function.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2023

Erschienen:

2023

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:75

Enthalten in:

Indian journal of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery : official publication of the Association of Otolaryngologists of India - 75(2023), 3 vom: 15. Sept., Seite 1806-1812

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Agarwal, Ashish Chandra [VerfasserIn]
Srivastava, Anitya [VerfasserIn]
Gupta, Tejaswi [VerfasserIn]
Agarwal, Ashish Chandra [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Branching pattern
Facial nerve
Journal Article
Parotid
Parotidectomy

Anmerkungen:

Date Revised 28.09.2023

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE

doi:

10.1007/s12070-023-03750-0

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM361347871