Parotid- mastoid fascia helps identify facial nerve trunk during parotidectomy: Study
Critical to successful parotid surgery is complete tumor removal and safe identification and preservation of the facial nerve. There are a number of accepted anatomic landmarks used to locate the facial nerve, including the use of the tragal pointer, the tympanomastoid suture line; the attachment of the posterior belly of the digastric muscle to the mastoid tip; and the styloid process. Despite these anatomic markers, it can be a challenging and time-consuming process.
The parotid fascia, particularly the parotid–mastoid segment overlying the facial nerve trunk, can be utilized as an additional landmark of depth to help identify the facial nerve trunk during a parotidectomy in conjunction with other commonly used standard anatomic landmarks, suggests a study recently published in the Ear, Nose and Throat Journal.
Steven B. Micucci and colleagues from the Department of Head and Neck Surgery—Otolaryngology, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Oakland, CA, USA aimed to describe the parotid fascia as a landmark that can help identify the immediately underlying facial nerve trunk.
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