Introduction: Surgical treatment options for oral cancer often include neck surgery to treat malignancies. These can range from radical to conservative and may be associated with deranged shoulder function that may affect quality of life. This study was carried out to evaluate the quality of life in patients undergoing various neck surgery for surgical treatment of oral cancers.
Method: After obtaining the ethical approval and consent patients undergoing neck dissection as part of their oral cancer treatment were included in this study. The QOL was evaluated using FACT-HN questionnaire before the surgery, at 1 month and at 3 months after the surgery. Statistical analysis was carried out by paired t test and one-way Anova.
Results: A total of 46 patients were enrolled in the study, and a total 49 neck dissections were performed. The mean age was 50 years. Patients undergoing selective and super-selective neck dissections fared significantly better at the quality-of-life scores at both 1 and 3 months. The MRND group fared midway while RND group had the worst QOL scores.
Conclusions: The results of the study suggest that the use of selective and super selective neck dissections as surgical treatment options are oncologically safe procedures with a significantly decreased shoulder morbidity and associated with improved QOL and appears to be associated with functional improvement and control of pain.
Keywords: Quality of Life (QOL), FACT-HN Questionnaire, Oral Cancer