Parotidectomy

The parotid gland is a salivary gland around the angle of the jaw bone in the upper neck. There is one on each side of the neck. It is sometimes necessary to remove this gland because of conditions such as infections or salivary stones or in order to gain a diagnosis of a lump within the salivary gland.
The surgery is straight-forward for a fully qualified ENT, Head and Neck Surgeon. There is a small scar in the neck. Usually a drain is placed over-night and removed the next day and the patient is then discharged home.

The risks of the procedure include injury to the small nerves that move the face, numbness to the earlobe, collection or leakage of saliva, sweating sensation over the scar when eating.