A 37-year-old male patient reported to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery with a chief complaint of pain, difficulty in closing the mouth, and swelling on the left side of the face following a road traffic accident. Direct open reduction and internal fixation via transparotid approach of the left condyle were performed []. Ten days later, the patient presented with a swelling on the left side of the face. On extraoral examination, there were no clinical signs of infection or drainage in the surgical wound and no local rise in temperature was noted. On intraoral examination, salivary secretion through the stenson's duct was relatively reduced on the left side. Neurological examination revealed that no motor loss due to severance of any branch of facial nerve in the affected side. Aspiration was done on dependable swelling which gained a 6 ml of clear, watery, and odorless fluid aspirate, giving an impression of saliva []. A laboratory test confirmed the presence of salivary amylase in the aspirate.\nIn this case, trauma in the parotid glandular substance leads to the formation of sialocele by the accumulation of extravasated saliva into the glandular parenchyma. Pressure dressing and antibiotics were given to prevent infection. Postoperatively, repeated aspiration along with compressive dressing was performed but did not result in healing. Hence, decided to place an intraoral drain under local anesthesia.\nAfter standard aseptic preparation, intraorally, a 1 cm long incision was placed on external oblique ridge behind the third molar. A small curved artery forceps were inserted through the superficial fascia of masseter reaching the sialocele. Approximately 5 cm long, slender, sterile, punched plastic tube of diameter 5 mm (intravenous cannula) [] was positioned with one end in the glandular substance and the other end in the mouth with the help of the forceps. The tube was secured along the vestibule by suturing it to the mucosal surface of the cheek, ensuring complete convenience to the patient []. After placing such a drain, there was no pooling of saliva in the glandular substance. This would have allowed healing of the gland and subsequent formation of structures necessary for drainage through the main Stensen's duct. The patient's recovery was uncomplicated, and follow-up was done for 5 months.
A 79-year-old woman visited our emergency department with three stab wounds in her right preauricular area (). We found no abnormal finding during the retrograde irrigation test for Stensen duct that was performed in the ampulla. However, facial expressions such as the area around the mouth and blinking of the eyes were unnatural, so the possibility of facial nerve injury could not be ruled out. An emergency exploration was performed under general anesthesia in the operating room. To minimize additional injuries and conduct a more reliable exploration of the injured areas, the wounds were connected to expose all the injured areas. Even though more dead space was created due to this procedure, we definitely found injuries in the parotid glands and an injury at a marginal mandible branch of the facial nerve (). After neurorrhaphy for the facial nerve injury, the wound was sutured, and a closed 100-mL Jackson-Pratt drainage tube was inserted (). The injured parotid gland area was not wide in size and the tissue was soft, so it was not repaired.\nAs postoperative management, oral administration of 10 mg nortriptyline once daily for 3 weeks was started from the day of surgery to prevent secondary complication, such as infection due to persistent salivation. During treatment with nortriptyline, the patient complained of mouth dryness, which showed that the drug had an anticholinergic action. The drainage tube was removed on the 6th day after the surgery, when 5 mL per day or less drainage was collected for 3 days in a row. Due to the possibility of partial wound dehiscence, delayed stitch out was planned, and all sutures were removed on the 10th postoperative day. Complete and unremarkable wound healing was observed, and no complications were reported 7 weeks postoperatively ().