Functional outcomes after surgical treatment of oropharyngeal carcinomas

Abstract

The primary goal of surgical resection of oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPSCC) is an R0 resection. The extension of the primary tumor is decisive for selection of access route, which should be as circumscribed as possible but as radical as necessary. To date, there are no prospective comparative studies that compared functional outcome in terms of surgical access route. Aselective literature search was carried out for the period from 01/01/2000 to 12/31/2019 to assess the functional result after different surgical approaches in the treatment of OPSCC. The search strategy aimed to identify publications that investigated the functional result of transoral approaches, robot-assisted transoral resections (TORS), and surgical resection using pharyngotomies or transmandibular approaches. Various measures were identified which enable subjective and objective assessment of swallowing and speaking restrictions. For all surgical access routes, studies were identified that examined the functional aspects of the respective access, but there are no direct comparisons between the individual approaches. There are various surgical approaches available for resection of OPSCC, each of which has been examined in various studies with regard to its oncological and functional results.