Sacrifice and extracranial reconstruction of the common or internal carotid artery in advanced head and neck carcinoma: Review and meta-analysis.

This review provides evidence that sacrifice with extracranial reconstruction of common or internal carotid artery in selected patients with head and neck carcinoma may improve survival with acceptable complication rates. However, all of the published literature is retrospective involving selected series and, therefore, precludes determining the absolute effectiveness of the surgery.