LAUSR

Abstract Background There is no evidence about the relationship between surgical cavity drainage and related postoperative complications in transoral robotic surgery (TORS) resected parapharyngeal space (PPS) tumors. Objectives To investigate the clinical efficacy and advantage of transnasal PPS drainage to prevent surgical cavity related complications (SCRC) in TORS resected PPS tumors. Material and methods Twenty-three patients undergoing TORS for PPS tumors were identified. In the experimental group (EG, 8 patients), the surgical incision was sutured directly and the transnasal drainage tube was placed. In the control group (CG, 15 patients), the surgical incision was partially sutured without drainage. The healing grade of surgical incision (HGSI), healing grade of surgical cavity (HGSC), SCRC, and other complications were compared. Results There were significant statistical differences in postoperative clinical rehabilitation indexes (HGSI/HGSC/SCRC) between the two groups. The comparison results of HGSI and HGSC in the two groups (EG vs CG) were (100% vs 66.7%) and (100% vs 46.7%) respectively. Compared with the EG, eight cases (53.3%) in the CG had postoperative SCRC such as hemorrhage, effusion, and swollen. Conclusions and significance For TORS resected PPS tumors, transnasal PPS drainage is an effective and comfortable method to improve postoperative HGSI and HGSC and prevent SCRC.