Trident Landmark as a Safe and Easy Method for Facial Nerve Trunk Identification During Superficial Parotidectomy

A modified Blair incision was made along the preauricular skin crease with the same steps of the routine parotid surgery. Dissection was performed using bipolar cautery and blunt instrument; from the tragal cartilage (the anterior surface) until the bony anterior wall of the external auditory canal (EAC); from there, the dissection was done using a blunt instrument. The styloid process's base is the upper point of the trident landmark; it is the superior portion of the trident landmark. Identification of the posterior belly of the digastric muscle till its origin was performed deep to the sternocleidomastoid muscle; it is the lower point of the landmark. The facial nerve is located in the region between these two structures.