ABSTRACT
The parotid gland is subject to acute ascending bacterial infection from the oral cavity. Provided the infection is controlled with antibiotics, the gland will usually make a complete functional recovery. Chronic infection is particularly common when salivary flow rates are reduced, such as in Sjogren's, syndrome or following radiotherapy. Frey's syndrome is a regular sequel to parotidectomy occurring in more than half the patients if looked for carefully. Patients with advanced disease with extension beyond the parotid capsule into adjacent tissues or with lymphatic metastasis should be treated by a sound oncologic technique according to the specific circumstances. When skin fixation, ulceration or fungation, facial nerve weakness or lymphatic metastasis is present and the tumour is clearly malignant. During the lower part of the dissection, branches of the posterior facial vein will be encountered immediately deep to the marginal mandibular branch of the facial nerve.
