Radical Neck Dissection Workup

• CBC count and differential: The CBC count is important because it gives the clinician a baseline regarding the patient's preoperative hematologic status. Patients with advanced cancers of the head and neck may present with preexisting anemia, which may require further characterization.
• Prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and international normalized ratio (INR) measurements: These studies are especially important in patients with preexisting bleeding diathesis, with hepatitis, or who are taking anticoagulants. Prolonged study results may need to be reversed preoperatively.
• Electrolyte tests

  • Preoperative evaluation is important in patients with head and neck cancers. Many present with other medical problems or take medications that affect their electrolyte status.
  • A subgroup of squamous cell cancers may result in paraneoplastic syndromes; the most common is the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH). Management may necessitate consultation with an internist or an endocrinologist.
• Liver enzyme profile is useful.
• Glucose test: This study is useful preoperatively in patients with a history of diabetes.
• BUN and creatinine testing is useful.
• Blood type and screen: Because of refinements in the surgical techniques, blood loss has been significantly reduced in these procedures. In situations in which blood loss is expected to be significant, either typing and screening or typing and cross-matching are necessary.
• Urinalysis is useful.

• An esophagogram may be helpful in evaluating an occult esophageal primary tumor.
• CT scan and MRI may be used if they would help to define node status and treatment planning further. They may be crucial in delineating the extent of bony structures, deep cervical musculature, and carotid artery circumferential involvement.

  • CT scanning with contrast can depict excellent anatomic details.
  • In general, CT is the radiologic technique most commonly used to evaluate the staging of the primary lesion; therefore, also include the neck in the examination.
  • Criteria for assessing nodal metastases with CT include increased size, a rounder shape, presence of central necrosis, and nodal grouping. The most accurate CT criterion for the presence of metastatic adenopathy is central necrosis. The node periphery is usually thick and enhances with contrast. CT scanning also reveals extracapsular spread by enhancement of the nodal capsule.
  • Some radiologists feel that CT demonstrates paratracheal node involvement better than MRI.
  • MRI reveals tumor necrosis and extracapsular spread with less precision than CT scan, but MRI is better for assessing enlarged lymph nodes that are not necessarily metastatic.
  • MRI may also be used in patients who are allergic to iodinated contrast.
  • According to some radiologists, MRI also appears to reveal retropharyngeal node involvement better than CT.
• Some institutions use ultrasonography and ultrasound-guided aspiration cytology to determine cervical neck metastasis. Ultrasound-guided aspiration cytology has a specificity of nearly 100%.
• PET has recently emerged as an adjunct in the diagnosis of lymph node metastasis.

  • In recent studies, PET has shown positive findings for lymph node metastasis when CT scan and MRI findings were negative. An FDG-PET scan provides physiologic and biochemical data. Glucose metabolism in neoplastic cells produces increased uptake on FDG-PET scanning, which correlates strongly with viable tumor cells. Therefore, FDG-PET may be helpful in the assessment of neck metastasis and even distant metastasis.
  • Additionally, PET scanning has shown the ability to differentiate active tumors from chronic fibrotic changes. Therefore, PET may become more useful than CT and MRI in the detection of recurrent head and neck cancer. Furthermore, the dual use of the PET and CT scanners produces fused PET and CT images, which can further enhance the results of the PET scan. The definitive role of PET and PET/CT scans is evolving and showing great potential in the assessment of metastatic neck disease, the early diagnosis of recurrent head and neck cancer, and the status of the neck after chemoradiotherapy.
• If tumor involvement of the carotid artery is possible, a complete preoperative evaluation of the carotid system is indicated. This includes a balloon occlusion test and a 4-vessel cerebral angiography to evaluate the status of the contralateral carotid, intracerebral circulation, and carotid back pressure.
• Perform chest radiography to exclude metastatic disease.

• A complete physical examination is mandatory and includes evaluation of neurologic, cardiovascular, and respiratory status.

  • Palpate the patient's neck to define size, location, mobility, and degree of softness or hardness of any mass.
  • Evaluate the patient's weight and nutritional status.
• Perform an ECG as indicated.
• Evaluation by medical service personnel and further medical consultations may be indicated.

• Use mirror laryngoscopy, flexible nasopharyngolaryngoscopy, or both to supplement the examination.
• When the primary tumor is known, perform a panendoscopy to exclude a second primary tumor. Performing biopsy of the primary lesion is necessary. When the primary tumor is not known, perform a panendoscopy to look for the primary tumor and to perform random biopsies of the pyriform sinus, base of tongue, and nasopharynx to exclude occult tumors. An ipsilateral tonsillectomy is also advocated; however, this has been the subject of controversy for many surgeons.
• When the patient has a neck mass, a fine-needle aspiration biopsy for cytology evaluation may be useful in helping the clinician determine management.
• An open biopsy of a neck node is indicated only when the previous measures of physical examination, needle aspiration biopsy, random biopsies, and endoscopy are inconclusive. To circumvent this situation, patients are asked to sign a consent form for a possible neck dissection when a frozen section diagnosis confirms the presence of malignancy in the open node biopsy specimen.

Biopsies of the primary site reveal the etiology of the initial mass and the characteristics of the tumor involved, such as squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, thyroid carcinomas, and skin cancer of the head and neck.

Fine-needle aspiration cytology of the neck confirms the pathology findings of the primary tumor. It also helps to determine the etiology of the cervical adenopathy when the patient has a neck metastasis from an occult primary tumor.