Head and Neck Surgeries

Among the fields on ENT medicine, head and neck surgeries are the most complex and complicated. Mostly, these surgeries are performed to treat some functional deficiency, and in the most severe cases – to remove malignant tumors.

The Herzliya Medical Center hospital provides the best medical solutions in Israel. The head and neck regions are complex and sensitive regions that require great expertise. We provide you with the most experienced experts in the field in Israel.

You can review the most common head and neck surgeries in this field, how they are performed and the medical issues they treat.

Surgeries for people suffering from diseases and tumors in the eidos gland (thyroid gland).

The eidos gland is the thyroid gland, which is located in the front part of the neck and “envelopes” the trachea. It is responsible for the production of 2 hormones – the thyroid hormones – which affect many processes in our body: metabolism, calcium absorption, body weight, heart rate, cholesterol level and more. The importance of this gland is huge, but in many cases, its functioning might be off.

Eidos gland diseases include sub-par or hyperactivity of the gland, significant increase in its volume (considered benign) and a malignant tumor – cancer in the thyroid gland. In general, the initial treatment will be medicinal in order to try “to repair” its function, but if that doesn’t help, surgery might be required.

The eidos gland surgeries can be split into 2 parts: surgeries where the gland is removed completely, and surgeries where it is partially removed. A cancerous tumor will usually lead to complete resection, while a benign tumor will allow partial resection, to reduce the size of the gland.

The surgery takes between 2 and 3 hours and is performed under complete anesthesia, while performing an incision in the lower part of the neck. After removing the gland, the patient must take hormonal drugs in accordance with the medical staff’s recommendation in order to compensate for the lack of the hormones the gland produced.

Parathyroid gland surgeries

Adjacent to the thyroid gland and behind it are 4 tiny glands that are in charge of the blood calcium level and affect the composition of the bones, kidney function and more.  These glands are called parathyroid glands, and their dysfunction (usually hyperactivity), might lead to excess calcium in the blood, thinning of the bone and kidney disease.

These glands’ functioning problems can be easily traced via blood test that indicates the calcium level. This can often also be treated with medications (similar to problems with the thyroid gland itself), but if the values do not change for a long period, surgery must be performed.

In the past, the parathyroid gland surgery included 2 incisions of 5 cm at least in both sides of the neck, in order to expose all glands and to find the problematic one. Today, using cervical mapping, we can determine which of the glands if the problematic one with near certainty and access it directly, using a tiny incision in one side.

During the surgery, which should take about an hour, the problematic gland would be removed. Before it is completed, the calcium level in the body will be reexamined, which should change significantly after the removal. If the calcium level did not decrease, there is most likely a functional problem with another gland – which could extend the surgery to up to 4 hours.

Salivary glands surgeries

There are quite a few salivary glands in the oral cavity, which are in charge of constant production of the fluid that makes swallowing easier and begins the food breakdown. The largest glands are under the ear (the parotid gland, which is the largest), under the tongue and under the jaw.

Salivary glands diseases include the creation of stones in them, benign tumors and malignant tumors – cancer of the salivary gland. If in the past, the most common surgery in those cases was resection of the salivary gland via an incision in the face, today there are other options that shorten the recovery time.

Surgeries to remove stones from salivary glands, as well as surgeries to remove different tumors, are often performed today using the endoscopic method (minimal-invasive), by inserting a tiny tube with a video camera at the end of it into the treated spot, or via sound waves. However, there are cases (especially with a cancerous tumor) where the preferred method is the traditional one. These surgeries take between 1 and 2 hours.

Cervical dissection surgeries

There are about 600 lymph nodes in the human body, with 200 being located in the neck. The lymphatic system is comprised of hundreds of tiny tubes, where the glands are where they meet. As such, the glands have an important role in the immune system in their region, and they are in fact a main intersection of fluid “traffic”.

When a person develops cancer in the neck and head region, a certain amount of cancerous cells could spread to other spots in the body – and of course go through those main intersections – the lymph nodes. In such cases, a surgery to remove the glands must be performed in order to stop the spreading before it begins. This procedure is called cervical dissection.

During the surgery, an incision is performed along the patient’s neck and the infected glands (and often a lot of tissue around them) are removed from the neck. It should be noted that in many cases, the cervical dissection is already performed during the surgery to remove the cancerous tumor.

A variety of head and neck surgeries are performed at Herzliya Medical Center hospital by the best doctors in Israel. At the hospital, you could enjoy 5 star hospitalization conditions, an option for hospitalization in a private room, and dedicated care 24-7.