Retention cysts of the parotid gland can be caused by trauma, surgery, and infection of the parotid duct or parenchyma. When conservative treatment is not effective, surgical treatment is performed. Since a parotidectomy is very invasive, minimally invasive surgery is required. We report a case of retention cyst of the parotid gland treated successfully by intraoral marsupialization. A 67-year-old man underwent an extraoral removal of a sialolith of the right parotid gland in the otolaryngology department of another hospital 13 years ago. Conservative treatment was performed for postoperative extravasation of saliva from the parotid gland. However, a superficial parotidectomy was performed because the swelling was recurrent. Despite the surgery, a retention cyst of the parotid gland developed. Therefore, the patient was referred to our department for minimally invasive treatment. Although the patient underwent a local injection of OK-432 as conservative treatment, the swelling was recurrent. Therefore, we performed an intraoral marsupialization. The postoperative course was uneventful, and there was no recurrence of the retention cyst. Intraoral marsupialization for retention cysts of the parotid gland is a minimally invasive method without the risk of skin scarring and facial nerve paralysis.
