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The value of a routine bone scan in a metastatic survey
1Department of Otolaryngology, Toronto Hospital, University of Toronto, Ontario.
Objective:
Currently, there is no uniformly accepted metastatic work-up of the patient with head and neck cancer. Various protocols range from selected laboratory investigations and a chest x-ray to more extensive radiologic screening surveys. Although it is desirable to have as much information available as possible prior to making a decision of operability, one is confined by the cost of extensive investigations. This study was conducted to evaluate the benefit of routine bone scanning preoperatively in these patients.
Method:
A retrospective study looked at a consecutive 172 patients undergoing a bone scan with respect to indication, diagnosis, scan result, and tumour stage.
Results:
Only three patients had a change in their management based on the bone scan results.
Conclusions:
The incidence of bone metastases in the majority of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck do not warrant routine bone scans for investigation of metastases.