Soft tissue sarcomas of the head and neck associated with surgical trauma

Soft tissue sarcomas in the head and neck are rare. Aetiological factors relating to these tumours have not yet been identified. The association with von Recklinghausen's disease and with irradiation is however well recognized. In the literature it has been speculated that trauma may also play a role in the development of soft tissue sarcomas. In this article we present five patients with a history of surgical trauma at the site where a sarcoma later developed. Although we cannot prove a causal relationship, the relatively high incidence of possibly trauma-related soft tissue sarcomas in a series of 60 patients we have seen over a 30-year period, suggests that such a relationship could exist.