Various Branching Patterns of Facial Nerve During Parotidectomy-Deciphering the Enigmatic Course of Facial Nerve Over the Parotid

Nisha, M. and Mariappan, Rajagopal and Hemalakshmi, R. and Poornima, S. Bhat and Santhanakrishnan, K. and Atul, M. Bage (2025) Various Branching Patterns of Facial Nerve During Parotidectomy-Deciphering the Enigmatic Course of Facial Nerve Over the Parotid. INDIAN JOURNAL OF OTOLARYNGOLOGY AND HEAD & NECK SURGERY, 77.0 (8). pp. 2883-2889. ISSN 2231-3796

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Abstract

This study aims at finding different branching patterns of facial nerve during parotid surgeries and the relationship of the nerve to tragal pointer (TP) and stylomastoidforamen (SMF). The facial nerve enters the body of the parotid gland with varying branching patterns, establishing unique relationship requiring close care while doing parotidectomies. A Hospital Based Prospective Observational, descriptive study, conducted among the participants in a tertiary care centre for a period of 18 months who underwent superficial parotidectomy. In the present study 50% patients had type 2 branching pattern, 24% patients had type 3 branching pattern, 15% had type 4 branching pattern and 10% had type 1 branching pattern. Mean Distance between main trunk and tragal pointer is 7.5 mm and standard deviation is 1.5. Mean Distance between main facial nerve trunk (FNT) and stylomastoid foramen is 1.54 mm and standard deviation is 0.2. Type 2 is the commonest branching pattern of facial nerve inside the parotid gland. This study will provide a road map for the surgeons to anticipate the variations in branching patterns and the knowledge of result of our study might help in decreasing the iatrogenic injury of facial nerve during parotid surgeries.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Facial nerve, Tragal pointer, Stylomastoid foramen, Branching pattern, Pes anserinus, Parotid gland, Parotidectomy
Subjects: Medicine > Surgery
Divisions: Engineering and Technology > Aarupadai Veedu Institute of Technology, Chennai, India
Medicine > Aarupadai Veedu Medical College and Hospital, Puducherry, India
Depositing User: Unnamed user with email techsupport@mosys.org
Last Modified: 06 Feb 2026 07:09
URI: https://ir.vmrfdu.edu.in/id/eprint/6685

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