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85th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

28.05. - 01.06.2014, Dortmund

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Frey’s syndrome. The postponed danger

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  • corresponding author Desislava Skerleva - Ministry of Interior Medical Institute, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Kiril Popov - ENT Department, National Oncological Hospital, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Stefan Stoyanov - Ministry of Interior - Medical Institute, Sofia, Bulgaria

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie. 85. Jahresversammlung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie. Dortmund, 28.05.-01.06.2014. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2014. Doc14hnod709

doi: 10.3205/14hnod709, urn:nbn:de:0183-14hnod7098

Published: April 14, 2014

© 2014 Skerleva et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

Outline

Text

Frey’s syndrome is a complication of parotidectomy that occurs as a result of aberrant regeneration of the postganglionic parasympathetic nerve fibers which supply the parotid gland to the postganglionic sympathetic fibers which innervate the facial sweat glands.

Our aim was to review the contemporary literature and share our experience with Frey’s syndrome.

We present a 61-year-old woman, who referred to our clinic for assessment of a gustatory sweating in the left parotid area. She underwent parotidectomy 5 years before the onset of the Frey’s syndrome.

The severity of Frey’s syndrome varies from asymptomatic to socially debilitating. The patients must be informed that it occurs in about 10% of the cases. This complication is difficult to prevent and treat and its onset can be years after the operation. Some modifications in the surgical technic, as elevation of a thicker skin flap can decrease its incidence. Botulin toxin injection may be proposed as a minimally invasive method of treatment.

Keywords: Frey’s syndrome, parotidectomy, prevention, Botulin toxin

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