Background: An international survey was conducted to investigate the preferences for completion lymph node dissection (CLND) in head and neck melanomas.
Methods: A questionnaire was sent through the American Society of Head & Neck Surgery (AHNS) and Canadian Society of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (CSO).
Results: Hundred and forty-nine surgeons completed the survey. Response rate was 6.3% and 9.7% from AHNS and CSO members, respectively. When presented the scenario of a 47-year-old male with a clinical T3bN0 cheek melanoma, with 1/1 positive sentinel lymph node (SLN) with nodal deposit <2 mm, 72 of respondents (48.3%) would perform a CLND. Reasons for CLND included multiples positive SLN (64.1%), size of nodal deposits (54.2%), and perceived lack of compliance to follow-up (54.2%). Surgeons with access to immunotherapy treatment were less likely to recommend CLND (p = 0.025).
Conclusions: Following SLN biopsy, nearly half of the surveyed head and neck surgeons would recommend CLND, which contrasts with the current melanoma practice patterns in other anatomic locations. However, compared with an earlier study in the literature it does seem that there has been a shift away from completion neck dissection. Further investigation into understanding practice variations is warranted.
Keywords: complete lymph node dissection; melanoma; neck dissection; sentinel lymph node; survey.
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