Surgical Management of Recurrent Tumor in the Neck

Abstract

supere cial tumors, the majority of head and neck primary tumors are treated with due consideration given to the management of the neck. The elective treatment of the neck varies between elective nodal dissection (selective nodal dissection) and elective irradiation. The decision regarding elective treatment of the neck depends upon the treatment of the primary tumor. If the primary tumor is to be treated with external radiation therapy, then the nodal sites at high risk are generally included in the radiation therapy. However, if the patient is to be treated surgically for the primary tumor, an elective selective neck node dissection is generally performed. The most common elective nodal dissection is a supraomohyoid neck dissection performed for tumors of the oral cavity and oropharynx. There is an extremely high incidence of metastatic disease in patients with cancer of the