Abstract:

Purpose: The lack of a generally accepted protocol for diagnostic and therapeutic behavior in patients with tumors of the parotid salivary gland determines the need to create a systematized diagnostic and treatment algorithm.

Material and methods: A prospective study was conducted for the period 2007 – 2017. 185 patients with salivary gland tumors aged between 12 and 84 years, 91 men and 94 women, including 5 children (3 boys and 2 girls) were included.

Results: For the ten-year period (2007 – 2017) 185 patients the main complaint in 91.35% of patients is the swelling in the respective facial area, 7.57% report discomfort when swallowing (except for swelling), 1.08% have a feeling of a foreign body For the considered period in 47% of the patients the left parotid gland is involved, in 45.7% – the right one. Bilateral localization was manifested in 1.3%. The type of surgical interventions is as follows: total conservative parotidectomy – 90%, radical parotidectomy – 6%, enucleation – 2.7%, lateral parotidectomy – 1.4%. In 89% of patients, no transient paresis or paralysis was observed; 10.81% of them have such, including patients who underwent radical parotidectomy (6%).

Conclusion: Based on the analysis of the obtained results, developed algorithms could be applied for better diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients with salivary gland tumors. They refine the behavior and minimize treatment and diagnostic errors of clinicians treating such disease, also standardize follow-up, improve survival, and support a multidisciplinary therapeutic approach in patients with salivary gland tumors.

Keywords: parotid salivary gland, tumors, diagnostic, treatment