Neck Dissection - History of Neck Dissections

History of Neck Dissections

• 1888 - Jawdynski described en bloc resection with resection of carotid, internal jugular vein and sternocleidomastoid muscle.
• 1906 - George W. Crile of the Cleveland Clinic describes the radical neck dissection. The operation encompasses removal of all the lymph nodes on one side of the neck, and includes removal of the spinal accessory nerve (SAN, or CN XI), internal jugular vein (IJV) and sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM).
• 1957 - Hayes Martin describes routine use of the radical neck dissection for control of neck metastases.
• 1967 - Oscar Suarez and E. Bocca describe a more conservative operation which preserves SAN, IJV and SCM.
• Last 3 decades - Further operations have been described to selectively remove the involved regional lymph groups.