Ipsilateral neck cancer recurrences after elective supraomohyoid neck dissection

Design: Retrospective analysis of a case series. Setting: Referral center, private or institutional practice, hospitalized care. Objective: To analyze the level(site) of ipsilateral neck recurrences after supraomohyoid (SOH) dissection in patients with lip, oral, and oropharyngeal cancer treated in a single institution. Intervention: Supraomohyoid neck dissection. Patients and Methods: From 1979 to 1997, 154 patients with oral and oropharyngeal carcinoma and no palpable lymph nodes at the neck underwent ipsilateral elective SOH dissection. Results: Tumor sites were the lip, 5 cases (3.3%), oral cavity, 128 cases (83.1%); and oropharynx, 21 cases (13.6%). Tumor stages were T1, 13 cases (8.4%); T2, 77 cases (50.0%), T3, 40 cases (27.0%); and T4, 22 cases (14.3%). There were 7 cases (4.5%) of ipsilateral neck recurrences. Three were beyond the limits of the SOH dissection, and 4 were inside these limits. There was no association of neck recurrences with the pathological status of the lymph nodes. Six of the 7 recurrences were in patients who underwent postoperative radiotherapy. Conclusions: The incidence of neck recurrence after selective neck dissection was 4.5%, and it occurred either inside (57.1%) or beyond (42.9%) the limits of the selective neck dissection.