There are many aspects of parotid surgery that concern patients, and one of the primary concerns is the incision used during parotid surgery. The treatment is on a highly visible area of the body-the face- and can lead some patients to worry about what the resulting scar may look like after surgery.

In this episode, Dr. Eric J. Moore; Chair, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Mayo Clinic; Rochester, Minnesota, joins me to provide information about incision types used during parotid surgery to help alleviate the anxiety that patients may feel about the incisional scar.

Listen in as Dr. Moore provides valuable information on a variety of topics related to incisions!

Key Talking Points of the Episode:

• Incision Types
• Factors Affecting Incision Type Selection
• Incisions for Superficial vs. Deep Lobe Tumors
• Incisions for Parapharyngeal Space Tumors
• Incisions for Accessory Parotid Gland Tumors
• Closure of Incisions
• Post-Operative Incisional Side Effects and Care
• Scar Revision Options

Key Milestones of the Episode:

[01:10] Factors Affecting the Incision Type

[05:23] Why do surgeons vary on the type of incision used during parotid surgery?

[07:20] Incision Types for Superficial Lobe versus Deep Lobe Tumors

[11:15] Is it necessary to remove the entire parotid gland to remove a deep lobe tumor?

[12:45] Do all patients require the standard parotid incision that extends into the crease of the neck?

[18:02] Use of hairline incisions behind the ear.

[22:06] Can parotid tumors be removed through the mouth?

[25:34] Are endoscopic salivary gland approaches available for parotid tumor removal?

[27:57] Incisions for Accessory Parotid Gland Tumors

[35:36] Incisions for Parapharyngeal Parotid Tumors

[37:18] Is it necessary to break a patient’s jaw to remove a tumor in the parapharyngeal space?

[38:45] Surgical Approach for Parapharyngeal Space Tumors

[41:48] Incision Types for Tumors in the Sublingual and Submandibular Glands

[44:44] Minimally Invasive Incisions

[48:21] Is there a correlation between incision size and recurrences?

[50:53] Extracapsular Dissection

[54:56] Revision Surgery Incisions after Recurrence

[57:41] Closure of Incisions

[01:00:10] Post-Surgical Care of Incisions

[01:09:32] Surgical Side Effects Related to Incisions

[01:19:42] Scar Revision Options

Informational References from the Episode:

https://parotidtumorpodcast.buzzsprout.com/1267148/8098929-parotid-surgery-part-1

https://parotidpatientproject.org/resources/mayo-clinic-parotid-tumor-guide-videos.html

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· Parotid Patient Project

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· Email: podcast@parotidpatientproject.org

Don't forget to like and subscribe to the podcast to stay fully up to date. As always, know that you are not alone in this journey.

It is parotid patient question and answer day at Parotid Tumor Podcast! Patients often share the same worries, concerns, and experiences as they navigate this diagnosis and treatment process. A great way to educate yourself and to become your own best advocate is by learning through questions that have been asked by fellow parotid patients.

In this episode, Dr. Eric J. Moore; Chair, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Mayo Clinic; Rochester, Minnesota, joins me to answer patient questions on a variety of parotid related topics. Dr. Moore will be sharing important information about benign and malignant masses, treatment side effects, recurrences, current research projects, and much more!

Listen in as Dr. Moore answers excellent questions that were submitted by the parotid community that will help educate and empower patients!

Please refer to the Chapter Markers for time stamps for each patient question.

Key Talking Points of the Episode:

• Enlarged Lymph Nodes vs. Parotid Tumors
• Treatment of Warthins Tumors
• Use of Ablation Techniques for Parotid Tumors
• Treatment Options for Malignant Parotid Tumors
• Treatment Side Effects
• Parotid Tumor Recurrences
• Parotid Tumor Research and Advanced Treatment Options

Key Quotes from the Episode:

“Individualizing treatment is always a good practice.”

“In this country, we are not very keen on the idea of ablation type treatment, such as radiofrequency ablation or injection ablation of benign tumors in the parotid gland….the two problems with doing that in the parotid gland are one, the uncertainty of diagnosis, so you may potentially be ablating a benign tumor that is actually malignant, and the relationship of the tumor to the facial nerve.”

“Every decision to perform surgery or not to perform surgery or to perform any kind of treatment- I’ll even be more general- is a balance between a risk and benefit ratio.”

“What I usually tell patients is you know you have to go into the treatment having faith in your care providers that they are going to do exactly the right thing that they would want done for them to you, and then you have to have faith and positivity that treatment is going to be effective until proven that treatment is not effective and so having a powerful mindset of positivity I think helps you get through this period of adversity as well as anything.”

“If the facial nerve is intact, it should go back to normal in almost every single circumstance.”

“I definitely believe that parotid gland surgery volume leads to experience, which leads to better outcomes.”

“To do research requires core groups and funding and numbers of people and numbers of specimens, and those are lacking in many of the parotid gland tumors, and that’s why there is not a whole lot of beneficial research at the basic science level on genomics and novel targeted therapeutics actively being undertaken in those tumors.”

Connect with Us:

· Parotid Patient Project

· Instagram

· Facebook

· Twitter

· Email: podcast@parotidpatientproject.org

Don't forget to like and subscribe to the podcast to stay fully up to date. As always, know that you are not alone in this journey.

The day we have all been waiting for has finally arrived! A patient-centered research project at the Mayo Clinic that was funded by Parotid Patient Project is being released. As patients, we often wonder why we don’t have more answers about parotid tumors, why our medical teams often don’t understand what we go through during this process, why more advanced treatment options are not available, and why more attention has not been focused on this disease process?

In this episode, Dr. Linda Yin, Head and Neck Surgeon, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, joins me to explain the details about this research project, to explain the answers she hopes to find through this study, and shares her thoughts on how our voices can be used to help improve the management, care, and treatment of parotid tumors.

We all have a unique opportunity to let our voices be heard and to help influence the care of future parotid patients by participating in this research study. It is time for the parotid community to come together and build a coalition of patients, doctors, and researchers to work together toward the goal of improving parotid patient care.

Listen in to the episode and learn how you can join us in the fight for more answers and better treatment options for parotid patients!

Join the Research Project:

You can sign up for this research study by clicking this link:

https://surveys.mayoclinic.org/jfe/form/SV_0CBqkIUwp90mJW6

Key Quotes from the Episode:

“While we’re very passionate about parotid tumors and obviously those that are listening to this podcast and any patient who has been afflicted by a parotid tumor can attest that this takes up a significant portion of their energy and really changes their life to have this diagnosis. On a population level, it is still quite a rare disease process and that creates a few challenges.”

“When we think about medicine today, we really feel that outcomes should not just be judged by if we, as the surgeon, feel that we did a good job but by how the patient feels.”

“On the most and simplest level, what the study aims to do is just open up better communication and explore the patient experience in a more detailed and comprehensive way.”

“The voice of the patient is the only thing that really matters in this study.”

“Every patient voice matters and there is a big diversity of experiences that people go through, and we want to try to capture and understand all of it in this comprehensive survey.”

“By letting your voice be heard that is the most important way to help.”

“It is our hope that this outcome measure that we develop through this survey can be implicated and can be used on a wider basis by surgeons around the country and even around the world to be administered to patients.”

Connect with Us:

· Parotid Patient Project

· Instagram

· Facebook

· Twitter

· Email: podcast@parotidpatientproject.org

Don't forget to like and subscribe to the podcast to stay fully up to date. As always, know that you are not alone in this journey.