Approaches for percutaneous needle placement for various head and neck procedures

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Anatomy
• Surgical Navigation

Background:

• Percutaneous needle placement is crucial for head and neck diagnostics and therapeutics.
• Image guidance enhances safety and precision in these procedures.
• Effective planning requires detailed anatomical knowledge of the head and neck.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review anatomical landmarks for safe percutaneous access in the head and neck.
• To describe techniques, benefits, and drawbacks of various needle placement approaches.
• To guide practitioners in selecting optimal routes for suprahyoid and infrahyoid regions.

Main Methods:

• Review of anatomical literature and imaging techniques.
• Categorization of percutaneous access routes based on anatomical regions (suprahyoid vs. infrahyoid).
• Analysis of established approaches including subzygomatic, retromandibular, transoral, and anterolateral neck approaches.

Main Results:

• Multiple percutaneous access routes exist for the suprahyoid region (skull base, upper cervical vertebrae).
• Specific approaches include subzygomatic, retromandibular, paramaxillary, submastoid, transoral, and posterior.
• Infrahyoid region access (lower cervical vertebrae) utilizes anterolateral, posterolateral, and direct posterior routes.

Conclusions:

• Image-guided percutaneous needle placement is a safe and precise method for head and neck interventions.
• Understanding regional anatomy is key to successful access route planning.
• A variety of established techniques allow for targeted needle placement throughout the head and neck.