Nutrition and the head and neck cancer patient.

Patients with head and neck cancer have a unique nutritional problem that can affect their response to treatment. To properly manage these patients the oral and maxillofacial surgeon must be able to accurately assess their nutritional status and implement the proper metabolic treatment. This article reviews the benefits of nutritional support, the methods of patient assessment and nutritional repletion, and the advantages and disadvantages of the various alimentation modalities. Also, an analysis of the relationship of nutritional status and the surgical course of the head and neck cancer patient at our institution is presented.