Role of artificial intelligence in head and neck surgery - A narrative review

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of head and neck surgery has remarkably impacted in various domains, including investigation, diagnosis, pre-operative decision making, surgical planning, rehabilitation, and so on. Head and neck surgery is a field that is practiced worldwide by otolaryngologists, maxillofacial surgeons, plastic surgeons and general surgeons. It has a number of challenging aspects. This review highlights the current advancements and future prospects in the field and its different applications in cancer detection, peri-operative care, and surgical planning. Deep learning and machine learning (ML) are the pillars of AI, by which huge datasets can be analyzed with precision. This can help to enhance the accuracy and meanwhile minimizing the chances of errors in making clinical decisions. On the other hand, there have been numerous ethical concerns regarding AI. Patient privacy, data security, element of empathy in complex decision making are a few concerns at the top. Like any other advancement, the decision is always taken after weighing risks and benefits. Therefore, instead of abandoning AI as a whole, we must come up with certain regulatory authorities that can keep these issues in check. And this can only happen with worldwide collaborative approach. We conducted this narrative review to summarize recent advancements in head and neck cancer surgery by searching PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar from January 2000 to July 2025 using predefined terms related to AI, ML, and head and neck surgery.