예방적 경부청소술의 임상적 의의에 관한 연구

A Clinical Study of the Elective Neck Dissection

Elective neck dissection (END), provide proper information on nodal status and stage which are significant prognosticator in head and neck cancers with clinically N (0) neck. But there are many controversies for the extents, methods of surgery, moreover, whether normal lymph nodes, local defencer, have to be removed or not. The authors performed 47 END in 39 patients of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma from 1984 to 1989 and a retrospective study of the cases was conducted. Eighteen percent of nodal metastasis and five percent of extracapsular spread were found in END specimens. We concluded that END provide significant information for the management and evaluation of prognosis in head and neck cancer.