INTRODUCTION: We conventionally divide the lymph nodes of the neck into three major groups—upper, middle and lower. Oral cancer commonly metastasizes to the lymph nodes of the upper and middle groups, and those of thoracic origin—to the lower group.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This review article is based on information from 30 full-text articles published in prestigious medical journals between 2004 and 2024.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: According to the oncoanatomical distribution of the lymph nodes of neck, there are seven levels of the latter (I to VII). In general, it can be said that involvement of levels I to III is characteristic of oral cancer and levels II to IV—of laryngeal and pharyngeal cancer. There are four varieties of cervical lymph node dissection according to the structures that are removed in them—radical, modified radical, selective radical, and extended radical. Depending on the indications for performing lymph node dissection, the latter is divided into therapeutic and prophylactic. Anatomically, cervical lymph node dissection is divided into supraomohyoid, extended supraomohyoid, lateral, posterolateral, and central.
CONCLUSION: The performance of cervical lymph node dissection in cases with metastatic cervical lymph node disease, as well as in those in whom it is performed for prophylactic purposes, is a challenging surgical manipulation that needs a multidisciplinary approach and is critical to the prognosis of these patients.
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