Is carotid reconstruction for advanced cancer in the neck a safe procedure?

Head and neck surgeons hesitate to resect the carotid artery because of the postoperative risk of neurologic sequelae. On the other hand, there is no curative therapeutic option for head and neck cancer involving the carotid artery, except for complete tumor removal. A retrospective review of all published articles in the English literature dealing with carotid reconstruction for head and neck cancer from 1987 to 1998 was performed. There were only 11 articles, including our series, that reported outcomes of this procedure. Among the 148 patients of this series, major neuromorbidity was 4.7%, and mortality occurred in 6.8% of the patients. Combined major neuromorbidity and mortality was 10.1%. Because total removal of the advanced cancer is the only therapy that can offer the patients a chance for cure, head and neck surgeons should aggressively perform carotid resection and reconstruction.