The Effect of a Single Dose of Intravenous Dexamethasone Administered before Parotid Surgery on Facial Nerve Paralysis; Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Background: Facial nerve weakness is the major complication of parotid tumors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a single dose of intravenous dexamethasone before superficial parotidectomy on postoperative facial nerve dysfunction. Methods: This randomized clinical trial study was performed on 40 patients with benign parotid lesions and normal function of the facial nerve. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups of 20 patients under medication and placebo; patients in both groups underwent superficial parotidectomy. Early postoperative function, and rate of function return and its relationship to size, type, and position of the mass, as well as age, and sex were compared among the groups. Findings: Incidence of postoperative facial nerve dysfunction was significantly lower in patient received dexamethasone (5% in drug group versus 35% in placebo group) on the first postoperative day (P = 0.018). There was no statistically significant difference between the nerve dysfunction based on the mass location (P = 0.749) and size (P = 0.505), and the nerve dysfunction rate between the two groups in terms of age (P = 0.490) and gender (P = 0.429). Conclusion: This study shows that using intravenous dexamethasone 4 hours before the superficial parotidectomy has a good result in reduction of facial nerve dysfunction.