Benign tumours represent the most often histopathological finding regarding the pathology of parotid gland. Regarding localization and size of tumours, two surgical methods are in use nowadays: parotidectomy and tumour excision. The aim of this study was to evaluate the recurrence rates and eventual complications following these two surgical methods, concerning that in modern professional literature exists an opposite opinion about those surgical approaches. We performed prospective study of patients with surgically removed benign tumours of the parotid gland for the period from 2006 to 2010. Collected data were statistically analyzed in our research. Study included 313 patients out of whom 260 patients had undergone parotidectomy and 53 tumour excision. The most often histopathological finding was pleomorphic adenoma in 49% cases, followed by cystic adenolymphoma in 41% cases. Percentage of recurrence in the group of patients who had undergone excision was 20.7%, and in the group of patients that had undergone parotidectomy 1.17%. Based on our results, we found that there is no significant difference between our and data published in international literature. Tumour excision is not an adequate therapeutic method unless performed in certain indications and it highly depends on the skill and competence of a surgeon performing the operation.