Data collection
All medical records were reviewed and the following data were extracted:
Pre-operative data included demographics (age and sex), diabetes and
smoking status (as reported at admission), BMI, and prior parotid
surgery (revision). Intra-operative data included parotidectomy type
(partial, superficial or total), performance of a neck dissection (for
exclusion from the analysis), tumor location (superficial, deep lobe,
tail or accessory parotid gland), length of surgery (minutes) and
insertion of surgical drains vs. FS. Hospitalization data included LOS
(days), days with drain, total amount of drained fluids, post-operative
complications, post-operative antibiotics and visual analog scale (VAS)
on post-operative day 1 and at discharge. Data on the final pathology
(tumor type) and final tumor size (cm) were also collected.
Post-hospitalization data included post-operative seroma or infection as
documented in outpatient visits, seroma aspiration (number and total
amount) if performed, prescription of antibiotics, insertion of a drain
and readmission.