Question:easy
Nerve injured in Frey's syndrome is:
Nerve injured in Frey's syndrome is:
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Gustatory sweating after parotid surgery points to one nerve near the parotid.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Auriculotemporal nerve
- Great auricular nerve
- Lingual nerve
- Inferior alveolar nerve
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The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Recall the clinical picture of Frey's syndrome - gustatory sweating and flushing of the cheek while eating, usually months after parotid surgery.
Step 2: Trace the responsible nerve. The auriculotemporal nerve relays postganglionic parasympathetic secretomotor fibres from the otic ganglion to the parotid gland; it runs right through the surgical field of a parotidectomy.
Step 3: When this nerve is cut, the parasympathetic fibres regrow and misconnect with the cutaneous sweat glands originally meant for sympathetic supply, so a meal that should drive salivation instead drives sweating.
Step 4: Therefore the auriculotemporal nerve is the injured structure; the lingual, great auricular and inferior alveolar nerves play no part in this aberrant reinnervation.
\[\boxed{\text{Auriculotemporal nerve}}\]
Step 2: Trace the responsible nerve. The auriculotemporal nerve relays postganglionic parasympathetic secretomotor fibres from the otic ganglion to the parotid gland; it runs right through the surgical field of a parotidectomy.
Step 3: When this nerve is cut, the parasympathetic fibres regrow and misconnect with the cutaneous sweat glands originally meant for sympathetic supply, so a meal that should drive salivation instead drives sweating.
Step 4: Therefore the auriculotemporal nerve is the injured structure; the lingual, great auricular and inferior alveolar nerves play no part in this aberrant reinnervation.
\[\boxed{\text{Auriculotemporal nerve}}\]
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