Questionable Necessity for Removing Submandibular Gland in Neck Dissection in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Oral Cavity

To assess whether submandibular gland is involved by metastasis in cases of oral cavity squamous cell carcinomas. It was a retrospective study, where we reviewed the records of the patients who underwent neck dissections for Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the oral cavity. It included 112 patients who had undergone 115 neck dissections (three patients had undergone bilateral neck dissection), either therapeutic or prophylactic. No pathologic evidence of metastasis to submandibular gland was seen in any of the case. Preservation of submandibular glands can be a good technique for reducing future complications in a patient undergoing Neck Dissection wherever feasible. Therefore, if there is no need to expose large oral cavity tumors through the submandibular triangle, or when there is no direct extension of the primary and/or regional lymph nodes into the submandibular gland, it may be safe to preserve the submandibular gland. © 2016, Association of Otolaryngologists of India.