Neck Dissection

A neck dissection is a surgical procedure where the lymph nodes that are draining a particular cancer (malignancy) are removed partially or in totality for therapeutic and staging purposes.  There are multiple different subdivision to the neck anatomy resulting in 6 levels of lymph nodes that can be potentially harboring metastasis.  Accordingly procedures such as radical, modified-radical, selective, lateral neck compartment and central neck compartment neck dissection are utilized to specify the type and extent of surgery that will be done for a particular head and neck cancer.  These procedures are often done in the hospital setting and require an overnight stay usually.  Each type of head and neck cancer has a predilection towards certain neck compartments and after review of your workup, a decision is made by one of surgeons as to what levels will be included in your neck dissection if necessary.  Dr. Alen Cohen and Dr. Jerome Vener have extensive experience at performing these skillfully demanding procedures that are only performed by select head and neck surgeons.  Their office is located in West Hills/Calabasas and serves the greater Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley and Thousand Oaks areas.