Study Comparing Safety of Parotid Gland Surgery With and Without Wound Drain A Randomized Trial Assessing Postoperative Complications and Recovery

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are evaluating the safety of performing surgery on the parotid gland, which is the large salivary gland in front of the ear, without using a wound drain. This study aims to determine if skipping the drain, which is currently standard practice in Sweden and often requires an overnight hospital stay, is just as safe. The goal is to see if avoiding the drain can allow more patients to go home the same day and improve patients quality of life while also being cost-effective for healthcare. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups during their surgery one group will receive the standard treatment with a wound drain placed to remove excess fluid, while the other group will have the surgery without a wound drain. Apart from this difference, all participants will receive the same surgical care. The surgical site will be closed using standard techniques, and postoperative monitoring will follow routine protocols. During the study, researchers will monitor the healing process and collect information on complications such as fluid build-up, bleeding, or infections, up to seven weeks after surgery. Participants will complete questionnaires about their health and symptoms at one week and six months post-surgery. Additional assessments will include facial nerve function, incidence of Freys syndrome, quality of life measurements, hospital stay length, and symptom-specific outcomes. The total study follow-up extends up to six months to evaluate both safety and patient well-being.

Swedish National Parotidectomy Study (SNaPs): Drainless Versus Standard Surgery