Surgical management of pleomorphic adenoma of the salivary glands: our experience

Background. Pleomorphic adenoma is a benign epithelial tumour of adenoid structure preferentially arising from the parotid gland. Aim. To analyse the outcome of patients with pleomorphic adenoma from salivary glands in order to evaluate the surgical strategy. Patients and methods. This is an audit of a 15-year period where 347 pleomorphic adenomas of the salivary glands were treated by the authors. Data was collected and reviewed from the records of all the patients in order to analyze gender, age, site, operative procedure, postoperative complications and recurrences. Results. The pleomorphic adenoma preferentially originated in the parotid gland (89,1%), and rarely in other glands. The tumour occurred more often in females than in males (F: M = 1,5). Average age was 43,43 years. Pericapsular enucleation of parotid neoplasms was the commonest operation performed. Other procedures were: superficial parotidectomy, total conservative parotidectomy, submandibular total sialoadenectomy and radical surgery for lesions of the palate. Postoperative complication was temporary facial weakness in 18 patients; 2 patients developed the Frey's syndrome. No recurrences were developed in follow-up period (25-177 months). Conclusion. The epidemiological aspects of pleomorphic adenoma of salivary glands retrieved in our study are similar to those reported in literature; moreover this study demonstrates that pericapsular enucleation is a viable alternative to superficial parotidectomy for the majority of parotid localizations, associated with reduced morbidity without oncological compromise.