Five terminal groups of branches of the facial nerve [VII]—the temporal, zygomatic, buccal, marginal mandibular, and cervical branches—emerge from the upper, anterior, and lower borders of the parotid gland (Fig. 8.62).
The intimate relationships between the facial nerve [VII] and the parotid gland mean that surgical removal of the parotid gland is a difficult dissection if all branches of the facial nerve [VII] are to be spared.