FREE GRAFTS OF SPINAL ACCESSORY NERVE DURING RADICAL NECK DISSECTION

1. 1. Thirty patients who had been treated surgically by radical neck dissection were studied. All showed total and persistent loss of trapezius muscle function with associated disability and local discomfort. 2. 2. Nineteen patients who had undergone radical neck dissection but whose spinal accessory nerve defect had been grafted primarily at the time of the neck dissection were similarly evaluated. All patients demonstrated return to trapezius muscle function with moderate to complete elimination of disability and discomfort. © 1969.