Management of parotid gland tumors in infants and children.

Seventy-four pediatric patients with parotid gland tumors were seen during a 52-year period. Seventy percent of the lesions were benign and 30% were malignant. When the primary treatment is either subtotal or total parotidectomy, the recurrence rate was 2.3%. The facial nerve should be dissected free of parotid parenchyma and preserved, except if the lesion was malignant--a situation in which the nerve might have to be sacrificed totally or in part to ensure adequate tumor removal. No patient died of a benign or malignant lesion in this series, and the morbidity after surgical removal of primary tumors of the parotid gland in children and infants was low.