Phrenic nerve paralysis following neck dissection.

One of the complications of neck dissection to control regional metastatic disease in cancer of the head and neck is phrenic nerve paralysis. The resulting elevation of the ipsilateral diaphragm can be diagnosed on a postoperative chest X-ray and confirmed by fluoroscopy. Symptoms can be respiratory, cardiac or gastrointestinal. In a retrospective study, unilateral phrenic nerve paralysis was observed in 14 (8%) of 176 consecutive neck dissections. None of the patients with postoperative phrenic nerve paralysis displayed severe symptoms, although a significantly higher number sustained atelectasis with or without pulmonary infiltrates to complicate the postoperative course.