Surgical Management of Parapharyngeal Space Tumours in a Single Tertiary Care Center

Because of the inaccessibility and overcrowding of the vital neurovascular structures, management of the parapharyngeal space (PPS) tumour is always a challenge to the surgeons. Here we have discussed the clinical findings and management of the PPS tumours with special concern to the surgical approaches. It is a retrospective study containing 14 patients of PPS tumour from June 2015 to January 2018 in the department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head Neck Surgery in a tertiary care referral hospital. 14 consecutive patients with PPS tumours were included in the study. The retrospective clinical data, diagnostic procedures, surgical approaches and the complications were analyzed after 12 months of surgery. Of 14 patients included in the study, 10 patients were males and 4 were females. Prestyloid and poststyloid spaces were involved in 28.57% and 71.42% cases respectively. Transcervical excision of the tumours were performed in 10 patients, 2 patients had undergone transcervical-transoral approach. Transcervical transmandibular and transcervical transparotid excision of tumours were performed in one patient each. Facial nerve injury was detected in 3(21.42%) patients. Injury to the internal carotid artery and wound infection were detected in one patient each. Radiological imaging, especially the MRI helps by narrowing the spectrum of the differential diagnosis distinguishing the benign from malignant lesions, especially in cases where FNAC is contraindicated. Although the transcervical approach is commonly practiced, the combined surgical approach can be effectively applied specially for extensive PPS tumours associated with satisfactory clinical outcomes.