[Functional radical neck excision. Evaluation of 10 years' experience. Apropos of 434 cases]

A total of 434 functional évidements of neck were conducted in 313 patients, taking into account all primary localizations. Details of the procedure used are described while emphasizing the need for an évidement tending towards one as complete as a radical operation. Surgery was usually elective (89% of cases) but in 11% considered as essential. A high proportion of lymph nodes classified as no were, however, found to be invaded (22.8%, including 27.5% of these with capsule rupture). Despite this, glandular recurrence on the side of functional évidement was extremely low (less than 7%) even when recurrence was epithelial or involved a second localization. These findings emphasize the validity of functional évidement and confirm published data, known to be difficult to analyze. Although the value of this operation with respect to the cancer is well established, the actual functional interest, particularly in relation, to external branch of XI th nerve is debatable.