Quality of Life After Great Auricular Nerve Sacrifice During Parotidectomy
Nilesh Patel, MD;
Gady Har-El, MD;
Richard Rosenfeld, MD, MPH
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2001;127:884-888.
Objective To determine the impact of great auricular nerve (GAN) sacrifice during
parotidectomy on patients' quality of life.
Design Historical cohort survey of patients who had undergone GAN sacrifice
during parotidectomy.
Setting Tertiary academic otolaryngologic practice.
Patients and Methods Fifty-three patients who had undergone GAN sacrifice during parotidectomy
completed an 8-item quality-of-life survey with a 7-point response scale designed
to measure outcome after GAN sacrifice during parotidectomy.
Results Thirty patients (57%) reported experiencing at least 1 abnormal symptom,
but the mean number of symptoms decreased significantly with time, from a
mean of 2.3 during the first year to 0.2 after 5 years (P<.001). Even among patients experiencing symptoms, 23 (77%) reported
only a little or no bother caused by the symptoms, and 27 (90%) reported no
interference or almost none with their daily activities. The degree of bother
or interference reported had a moderate positive correlation with the number
of abnormal sensations reported.
Conclusions The results suggest that, while many patients experienced sensory deficits,
the overall quality of life was not significantly affected after GAN sacrifice
during parotidectomy. Patients who report multiple abnormal sensations, however,
would benefit from additional counseling and from reassurance that the number
of sensations will diminish with time. Further study evaluating the effect
of preservation of the posterior branch of the GAN during parotidectomy on
patients' quality of life is needed.
From the Department of Otolaryngology, State University of New York
Health Science Center at Brooklyn.
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