Mortality after surgery for hypopharyngeal cancer

Results of 362 patients with squamous carcinoma of the hypopharynx are presented. The hospital mortality was 25 per cent for patients treated surgically. The mortality was increased by previous radiotherapy and poor general condition, and also depended on the method of pharyngeal repair: the mortality for visceral (stomach or colon) transposition was higher than that for repair by skin flaps. The chance of long term survival decreased with increasing N stage, and was also reduced for patients undergoing visceral repair compared with skin flap repair of the pharynx.