Facial and neck edema after neck dissection with or without internal jugular vein resection

Author(s)

Carolina Barreto Mozzini

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Medicina (FM/SBD)
• Defense date: 2011-10-14

Examining board members

Luiz Paulo Kowalski; André Lopes Carvalho; Gilberto de Castro Junior; Rogério Aparecido Dedivitis; José Guilherme Vartanian

• Advisor: Luiz Paulo Kowalski

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: During neck dissection, besides the lymphatic tissue, some non-lymphatic structures of the neck are at injury risk or are resected, such as the internal jugular vein. This is directly related to venous and lymphatic drainage of face and neck, and, thus, resection may cause venous congestion, facial and laryngeal edema, visual disturbances and cerebral edema. There are several techniques to evaluate the edema; however, there are no reports of a particular technique that can be used in the facial region. This study aimed to quantify edema in specific points sited at the face and neck of patients who underwent neck dissection with or without resection of the internal jugular vein. METHODS: These study uses an objective method of facial and neck edema measurement of patients at pre and postoperative of unilateral or bilateral neck dissection with or without internal jugular vein resection, for malignancies at the head and neck level and with no previous neck treatment, through a device that assess the skin dielectric constant and subcutaneous fat in four stages: preoperative, 3rd, 10th and 30th postoperative days, in patients treated at the A. C. Camargo Hospital Head and Neck Department, Sao Paulo, Brazil. RESULTS: There were 51 patients prospectively evaluated; mostly males (68.6%) with mean age of 55.7 years (median of 54 years). It was verified that differences on tissue dielectric constant were not statistically different between patients with and without internal jugular vein resection; however, in patients undergone unilateral neck dissection there was significant edema between pre and postoperative both in those with preserved vein as in those with resection, as well as in bilateral with vein preservation, affecting the general quality of life and the one related to appearance in both groups. It was also found that edema seems to be unavoidable after the procedure, as it was evidenced significantly in patients undergoing radical neck dissection, modified radical and selective. CONCLUSION: No significant difference was observed in face and neck edema after neck dissection in patients with or without internal jugular vein resection, however, there is difference between pre and postoperative in each group regardless of the preservation or not of the vein, where the most affected points are mandible and neck (AU)