Gustatory Sweating: Report of a Case Treated by Tympanic Neurectomy

GUSTATORY sweating (auriculotemporal syndrome, Frey syndrome) is characterized by profuse sweating, frequently accompanied by flushing, usually in the area innervated by the auriculotemporal nerve. It may develop from a few weeks to several months after trauma to the parotid gland. The syndrome most commonly occurs after excision of the superficial lobe, or after incision and drainage of a parotid abscess, but it has been reported after blunt trauma, bullet wounds, in an infant after forceps delivery,¹,²and in association with central nervous system diseases as syringomyelia, encephalitis, and epilepsy.³It has also been reported with no history of antecedent injury. Probably of slightly different mechanism are those few cases reported after injury or surgery on the sympathetic trunks. These cases frequently involve the entire side of the face and neck, or parts of the upper extremity.⁴⁻⁶ The syndrome was first described by Duphenix (1757) and later by