Several surgical approaches have been proposed for the treatment of condylar fractures: submandibular, preauricular, intraoral and retromandibular.

This study pretends to evaluate the efficiency of the transparotid retromandibular approach to reduce and fix condylar fractures, by evaluating the quality of the anatomical reduction, neurological after-effects, salivary fistula, occlusion and post-operative mandibular dynamics.

Methodology: Report of 18 clinical cases performed at the San José Hospital, Trabajador Hospital and Davila Clinic by means of transparotideal retromandibular approach, with a clinical and imaging monitoring of 6 months minimum.

Results: All the patients presented the same occlusion they had before the fracture and mandibular dynamics with normal parameters. This was evaluated according to the magnitude of mouth aperture with absence of symptomatology. Two patients presented paresis of facial muscles, innervated by frontal branches of the facial nerve, which recovered within a 6 month period, and one case of salivary fistula, which disappeared in 7 days.

Conclusions: The transparotid retromandibular approach is a technique that provides a good access since it allows an adequate reduction and osteosynthesis; it allows the recovery of an adequate mandibular dynamics and presents a low morbidity rate in relation with the facial nerve, due to the low incidence of paresis within the analyzed group of patients and the low incidence of salivary fistula.

Conflict of interest: None declared.