en Gamma Knife Radiosurgery Research <p style="text-align: justify;">Background & Aim: Various landmarks are discussed to find the facial nerve during parotid surgery. The surgeon should use existing landmarks for a safe surgical use. To evaluate two new landmarks in parotid surgery, this study was done.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Methods & Materials/Patients: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 43 patients with parotid masses, whom were referred to Alzahra and Kashani tertiary hospitals in 2013. In a parotid surgery, the greater auricular nerve was detected; then the greater auricular nerve and facial nerve diameter were measured by the compass with precision of 0.1 millimeter and recorded. After facial nerve exploration, if the other landmarks of vascular and tail signs are detected, they are recorded in the files.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Results: This study contained 43 patients, 22 men and 21 women. There were 21 (48.8%) masses in deep lobes and others on superficial lobes. In 36 cases (83.7%), vascular signs were observed. In 23 cases (53.5%), tail signs were found. The diameter of facial nerve was 2.647(&plusmn;4641) mm (minimum: 2 mm and maximum: 4 mm). The diameter of greater auricular nerve was 2.691(&plusmn;4545) mm (minimum: 2 mm and maximum: 4 mm). By paired T-test, there was no significant difference between the diameter of facial and greater auricular nerves. Of all cases, 76.7% had differences less than 0.5 mm. Conclusion: This study showed that greater auricular nerve can be used as a proper graft for facial nerve, and we can use &ldquo;vascular sign&rdquo; as a good indicator of facial nerve.&nbsp;</p> Parotid Surgery, Facial Nerve, Greater Auricular Nerve, Vascular Sign, Tail Sign, Complication 6 8 http://irjns.org/browse.php?a_code=A-10-164-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 َAhmadreza Okhovvat احمدرضا اخوت 10031947532846004515 10031947532846004515 No MD, Associate Professor of Otorhinolaryngology, Ayatollah Kashani Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran Maryam Yaghoubi Hamgini مریم یعقوبی همگینی 10031947532846004516 10031947532846004516 Yes MD, Otorhinolaryngologist, Ayatollah Kashani Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran Mostafa Hashemi مصطفی هاشمی 10031947532846004517 10031947532846004517 No MD, Associate Professor of Otorhinolaryngology, Ayatollah Kashani Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran Hamidreza Abtahi حمیدرضا ابطحی 10031947532846004518 10031947532846004518 No MD, Associate Professor of Otorhinolaryngology, Ayatollah Kashani Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran Shadman Nemati drshadmannemati_ent@yahoo.com 10031947532846004519 10031947532846004519 No Rhino-Sinus, Ear and Skull Base Diseases Research Center, Department of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Amiralmomenin Hospital, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran