Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of sternocleidomastoid muscle flap and cosmetic incision for resection of parotid tumor and its effect on patient satisfaction. Methods A total of 74 patients with parotid benign tumors were enrolled in this study. The patients were randomly divided into observation group and control group (n = 37). The patients in the two groups were treated along the anteroposterior margin. The incision and resection of the tumor were performed. After the tumor was removed, the sternocleidomastoid muscle flap was repaired in the defect of the operation area. In the control group, no repair was conducted. The intraoperative blood loss, operation time and hospitalization time and other surgical indicators were compared.The postoperative complications of the patients in two groups were compared, and surgical satisfaction of patients of two groups was surveyed by satisfaction questionnaire. Results There was no significant difference in the incidence of intraoperative blood loss, operation time and hospitalization time between the two groups (P> 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of temporary facial paralysis, salivary fistula and earlobe numbness between the two groups (P> 0.05 ). The incidence of depression deformity in operation area and Frey syndrome was significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group, the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). The satisfaction rate of the observation group was 94.6% (34/37), which was significantly higher than that of the control group (67.6% vs 94.6%).Conclusions The sternocleidomastoid muscle flap for resection of parotid gland tumor will not affect the operation time and the amount of intraoperative blood loss, and can reduce the occurrence of postoperative complications and improve the patient's surgical satisfaction, which is worthy of clinical application and promotion.

Key words: parotid tumor, sternocleidomastoid muscle flap, cosmetic incision