Parotid swellings: report of 110 consecutive cases

Parotid swellings are uncommon. Over a twelve-year period, 110 cases of parotid swellings were treated at the Department of Plastic Surgery, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, of which 97 cases were histologically proven to be parotid tumours. 75% of these tumours were benign tumours, and 80% of the benign tumours were pleomorphic adenomas. Among the malignant tumours, 6 cases were adenoid cystic carcinoma and 5 were carcinoma ex-pleomorphic adenoma. There were equal number of male to female patients, with an age range of 14 to 83 years. There is a positive correlation between the final histological diagnosis and FNAC results in 74% of cases. Surgical treatment of choice for benign parotid tumours was near-total parotidectomy whilst for malignant tumours was total radical parotidectomy with sural nerve graft.