Selective neck dissection in treatment of node-positive neck cases

Surgical management of patients with cervical metastases of laryngeal and hypolaryngeal cancer has remained a challenge ever since Dr. Crile described the radical neck dissection. The evolution of neck dissection technique confirms this statement. The modification of the radical neck dissection is justified by the severe cosmetic and functional losses related to it and by the fact that despite the comprehensiveness, the recurrences in the neck are still a significant problem. Applying selective neck dissection in node positive cases seems to be justifiable. Expanding the indications for this operation is justified, because in the absence of factors that have destructive effect on fascial compartments of the neck or disrupt the lymphatic flow, such as gross adenopathy or significant extracapsular spread, the principles on which the selective neck dissection is based are still valid. In this paper we report our experience with 10 patients with N1 and N2 who underwent supraomohyoid and lateral neck dissections with follow-up of at least 2 years.