The effects of tympanic neurectomy and chorda tympanectomy on experimentally induced parotid duct fistulae in rabbits.

To study the effects of parasympathetic denervation on the secretory activity of parotid fistulae, polyethylene catheters were introduced bilaterally into the parotid main excretory ducts of 10 rabbits, followed by unilateral parasympathectomy performed by segmental resection of the tympanic plexus and the chorda tympani nerve. Although salivary flow from the fistulae of the denervated parotid glands stopped up to 8 days earlier than that from the healthy (control) glands, the effect of parasympathectomy was not strong enough to recommend this operation as the method of choice for the clinical inactivation of persistent parotid fistulae.