Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Parotidectomy is a surgical procedure in which the parotid gland is removed due to different tumours.During this process, different drainage issues can be observed.To overcome such issues, different techniques such as "Negative Pressure Drain (NPD) and Penrose Drain (PD)" can be used.This study also aims to compare the postoperative outcomes of NPD versus PD in patients undergoing parotidectomy.For this study, a sample of 500 patients who underwent parotidectomy was selected.The data for the selected patients was obtained from "the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery in Turkey."Pre and post-operative examinations were done by using different factors.The "Post-parotidectomy Facial Nerve Grading System (PPFNGS)" was used for evaluating dysfunction of the facial nerve.However, the state of life was measured by "Parotidectomy Outcome Inventory (POI)-8" at 6 months.SPSS was used to analyse the data, and p < 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant.The results obtained from this study showed that the mean age of the patients who were included in this study was 46 ± 19 years.The involvement of marginal mandibular branches was found in 38 cases of superficial parotidectomy, while it was observed in 9 cases of total parotidectomy.NPD was applied in 260 of the cases, while PD was integrated in 240 cases.In comparison between NPD and PD, significant differences were observed within the context of facial nerve dysfunction, POI-8 scores (facial change and scars), mean duration for hospitalisation and removal of drainage.Early postoperative facial nerve dysfunction was more common in the NPD group (52% vs 48%) but it also had a lower seroma (15% vs 35%) and hematoma (4% vs 8%) rate, shorter length of stay (3.6 vs 5.1 days), and earlier drain removal (2.2 vs 3.1 days).These results suggest a risk-benefit tradeoff: NPD accelerates fluid control and return at the risk of greater early nerve dysfunction.Drain selection needs to be tailored.
Author: Semih Ak
Institution: Bahçeşehir Cyprus University
Language: English
Subfield: Surgery
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7204604631