Abstract: Pleomorphic adenoma ranks first among parotid gland tumors. Surgical procedure, which includes enucleation, extra-capsular resection, partial superficial parotidectomy (PSP), superficial parotidectomy (SP), and total parotidectomy (TP), remains to be the treatment of choice for pleomorphic adenoma. In the last century, physicians lacked understanding on the pathological characteristics of pleomorphic adenoma and facial neurotomia. Thus, simple enucleation of tumors has always been the major therapy for patients to reduce the rate of facial nerve injury. However, postoperative recurrence was frequently observed in patients that have undergone simple enucleation. In this study, the surgeons attempted to control the relapse rate by enlarging the scope of excision when removing a pleomorphic adenoma, and by performing an extra-capsular resection procedure that was developed in the clinic. Although the tumor peplos was excised, the surgeons failed to control the relapse rate. SP and TP apparently decreased the relapse rate of the pleomorphic adenomas. However, these therapies seem to be overcorrected by the aggravation of facial nerve injuries. PSP is a relatively advanced technique that is currently used in parotid surgery. PSP reduces the rate of relapse and facial nerve injury, as verified by basic pathology research. Nevertheless, the controversy between advanced PSP and classic SP still exists. Plastic surgery, pathology research, and gene testing were used to evaluate the advantages of advanced PSP and classic SP. However, the research failed to derive a confirmed result that can determine which treatment method is fit and unfit to treat pleomorphic adenoma. Our study reviews the trend of parotid surgery from a historic point of view.