Care of the patient undergoing surgical excision of a carotid body chemodectoma

The carotid body is a small mass of tissue inside the carotid bifurcation that reacts to the body's level of oxygen. In rare cases, the carotid body may develop a tumor known as a chemodectoma or paraganglioma. These tumors can vary in size and, typically, they are benign. Although carotid body tumors usually are painless and slow growing, they may cause a compression syndrome that results in symptoms such as dysphagia. The treatment of choice for many carotid body tumors is surgical removal, but there are risks involved with resecting these tumors because of their close location to the carotid vessels and cranial nerves. The use of newer imaging modalities to allow earlier detection of carotid body tumors and careful surgical technique can decrease the complications associated with this challenging surgical procedure.