Intraoperative examination versus postoperative histopathological examination of clinically negative neck lymph node in head and neck cancer

Abstract EN

-the accuracy of clinical intraoperative lymph node examination, and relation between preoperative clinical examination and postoperative histopathological examination of lymph nodes in head and neck cancer.

Study design: Cohort study.

Level of evidence: Level II.

Setting: Tertiary University Hospital, Department of Otolaryngology and National Cancer Institute.

Subjects and methods: The study included 125 patients with head and neck cancer.

The patients’ necks were all staged as clinically N0 on the basis of palpation and ultrasonography (USG).

All patients underwent surgical excision of the primary tumor and selective neck dissection according to the site of the primary tumor.

All lymph node specimens underwent postoperative histopathological examination.

Results: The patients were 85 males and 40 females with a median age of 56.7 years.

Intraoperative lymph node examination revealed that 130 (76.5%) of 170 neck dissection (95 patients) were negative for lymph node metastasis and 40 (23.5%) of 170 neck dissection (30 patients) were positive for lymph node metastasis.

Postoperative histopathological examination of lymph node specimens revealed that 115 (68%) of 170 neck dissection (85 patients) were negative for lymph