Application of transverse cervical artery flap in laryngeal function preservation surgery of hypopharyngeal carcinoma

Abstract

To explore the value and limitation of transverse cervical artery flap in laryngeal function preservation surgery of hypopharyngeal carcinoma. Between January 2013 and December 2019, 18 male patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma were admitted. The patients' age ranged from 48 to 77 years, with a median age of 65 years. The disease duration ranged from 3 to 8 months (mean, 5 months). All patients were diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma by biopsy before operation. According to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) guidelines (2017, 8th ed), TNM staging was T2N0M0 in 9 cases, T2N1M0 in 2 cases, and T3N0M0 in 7 cases, and cTNM staging was stage Ⅱ in 9 cases and stage Ⅲ in 9 cases. The lesions of 15 cases were located in the piriform fossa of hypopharynx on one side, among which the esophageal entrance was involved in 4 cases. The lesions of 3 cases were located in the posterior wall of the hypopharynx with esophageal entrance involvement. After partial pharyngo- laryngectomy and bilateral neck lymph node dissection, the hypopharyngeal and laryngeal defects were repaired with transverse cervical artery flaps, the size of the flap ranged from 4 cm×3 cm to 6 cm×4 cm. The accompanying vein of transverse cervical artery (7 cases), external jugular vein (6 cases), and combination of both (5 cases) served as venous reflux. Retrograde external jugular venous reflux exercise was performed in 2 flaps with venous reflux obstruction during operation. The incisions at donor sites were directly sutured or via relaxed incision sutured. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy were supplemented within 3 months after operation. Tracheal cannula with air bag was used to prevent patients from aspiration in the early postoperative stage. The operation time was 4-6 hours, with an average of 4.5 hours. All patients were followed up 1-5 years (mean, 2 years and 6 months). Postoperative pathological examination showed that 7 cases had cervical lymph node metastases on the affected side, and there was no lymph node metastasis in cervical region Ⅴ; the remaining 11 cases had no lymph node metastasis. After operation, 16 flaps survived successfully, and 2 flaps with external jugular vein reflux were covered with white pseudomembrane, no flap necrosis was found after the pseudomembrane fell off. Four cases had no obvious accidental aspiration after operation; 14 cases had obvious accidental aspiration, of which 13 cases were significantly reduced at 3 months after operation, and 1 case still had obvious accidental aspiration at 6 months after operation, and the accidental aspiration decreased significantly after pulling out the gastric tube. All patients had no aspiration pneumonia. One case developed upper mediastinal lymph node metastasis at 1 year and 2 months after operation, and died of recurrence and pulmonary infection at 1 year and 3 months after operation. No recurrence or metastasis was found in the remaining 17 cases during follow-up. Tracheal cannula was successfully removed in 7 cases at 2-5 months after operation. Different degrees of accidental aspiration in 11 patients were confirmed by esophagography, so the tracheal cannula was retained. All patients had pronunciation function after operation. All incisions at the donor sites healed by first intention, and the shoulder joint function was normal. Using transverse cervical artery flap to repair the hypopharyngeal and laryngeal defects during hypopharyngeal carcinoma surgery in patients without lymph node metastasis in cervical region Ⅴ, can achieve good results of laryngeal function preservation. In cases with suspected lymph node metastasis in cervical region Ⅴ or venous dysplasia of accompanying vein of transverse cervical artery, there is a risk of tumor recurrence or flap necrosis, and the repair method needs to be cautiously employed.