[Surgical treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas in Spain during the 2006-2011 period]

Surgery is one of the basic pillars in the treatment of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The objective of the present study was to analyse the current state of the use of surgery in patients with HNSCC in Spain.

Retrospective review of the hospital discharge reports of the patients with HNSCC treated surgically during the 2006-2011 period in Spain. We obtained the data from the Minimum Basic Data Set during the hospital discharge.

We obtained information on 26,629 hospital discharges, with a total of 27,937 surgical procedures. Overall, in our country about half of the patients with HNSCC receive surgical treatment of the primary tumour location. There were no significant changes in the number of surgical procedures throughout the study period. There was a smooth downward trend in the number and percentage of surgeries carried out in male patients, and a significant increase in those carried out in female patients throughout the study period. Among the total of surgical procedures, 15.7% were carried out in hospitals with a low level of complexity, 32.2% in hospitals with an intermediate complexity and 52.1% in centres of high complexity.

Surgery is one essential pillar in the treatment of patients with HNSCC. In Spain about half of the patients with HNSCC receive surgical treatment for the primary location of the tumour.