Facial nerve reconstruction following ablative parotid surgery.

Sacrifice of the facial nerve during surgery for parotid malignancy is rarely necessary, but the sequelae of facial nerve paralysis necessitates some form of facial re-animation. The technique which achieves the best results is that of immediate nerve grafting. This paper records our experience with 14 cases of extra temporal reconstruction of the facial nerve, utilizing the cutaneous branch of the radial nerve as an autograft.