Finding the Main Trunk of the Facial Nerve: The Fat Lobule

Multiple methods and landmarks for identifying the facial nerve during parotidectomy have been described. This study describes a novel landmark which can be consistently utilized to assist in the identification of the main trunk of the facial nerve during parotidectomy. There lies a discreet fat lobule which sits just lateral to the main trunk of the facial nerve that can be utilized as an additional landmark when performing a primary parotidectomy.