Neck Dissection

Chapter 24 of Volume 2, Head, Neck & Craniofacial. Revision notes and examiner-style viva questions with model answers for the FRCS (Plast).

26 viva questions in this chapter

1. What are the levels of the neck?
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2. Classify neck dissections.
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3. What anatomy do you have to know cold?
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4. How do you decide whether to treat the clinically N0 neck?
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5. Where does sentinel node biopsy sit in 2026?
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6. Would you clear level IIb?
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7. And the clinically node-positive neck?
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8. The patient had chemoradiotherapy for N2 disease. Do you dissect the neck?
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9. Scalp SCC, and a lump in the parotid. Talk me through it.
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10. Melanoma of the cheek, sentinel node positive. Do you dissect the neck?
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11. The sentinel node is in the parotid. Do you do a superficial parotidectomy?
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12. Merkel cell carcinoma of the cheek. Is the neck different?
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13. What do you say to the anaesthetist before this case?
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14. Take me through the operation.
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15. What are the complications of neck dissection?
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16. You are in level two and the internal jugular vein tears. What do you do?
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17. You had planned a free flap. Do you still do it?
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18. Day zero, midnight, the ward calls. The neck is swelling.
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19. Day two, the drain has turned milky.
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20. The patient cannot lift their arm at six weeks.
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21. The lower lip is weak on the fourth postoperative day.
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22. What about the other nerves?
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23. An irradiated neck, a wound breakdown, and a bleed that stopped.
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24. Wound, flap and fistula problems.
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25. Two you will be asked about because everyone forgets them.
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26. The histology is back. What triggers what?
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