Surgical management and outcomes of accessory parotid gland neoplasms: A systematic review.

Objective: To evaluate surgical approaches and outcomes associated with accessory parotid gland neoplasms.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials.

Review Methods: A systematic review in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was performed. Studies were included if they reported surgical management and outcomes of patients with accessory parotid gland neoplasms.

Results: After screening 3532 records, 15 studies were included with a total of 187 patients. Benign tumors consisted of 61.5% of cases. External open, transoral, and preauricular endoscopic approaches were used for 82.3%, 11.3%, and 6.5% of cases, respectively. Accessory lobe resection alone, concurrent with partial parotidectomy, and concurrent with total parotidectomy were used in 54.8%, 43.0%, and 2.2% of cases, respectively. Complication rates were similar between histology groups (7.8% benign vs. 8.3% malignant, p = 0.82). Accessory lobe resection with concurrent partial parotidectomy had the lowest overall complication rate (6.3%). Resections limited to the accessory lobe were found to have an overall complication rate of 8.7%.

Conclusion: The results offer an overview of the surgical management and complications for accessory parotid gland tumors. Overall surgical complication rates found in these case series may be lower for management of accessory gland tumors than rates available in the literature for tumors within the main parotid gland.