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BACKGROUND Cancer is expected to rank as the leading cause of death and the single most important barrier to increasing life expectancy in every country of the world in the 21st century.1 Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide. Our aim in this study is to find out the incidence of head and neck cancer cases in Otorhinolaryngology Department of our tertiary care centre in Assam. METHODS This is a retrospective study conducted among 45 cases over a period of one year. All patients who were operated in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology of our tertiary care centre over a period of one year from January 1 st 2019 to 31st December 2019. RESULTS 36 were males and 9 were females. Male to female ratio was 4:1. Age ranged from 17 yrs. to 70 yrs., with a mean of 58 yrs. Maximum number of patients was in the age group 51 to 60 years (26%). Oral cavity cancer included a total of 11 cases, out of which 7 were males 4 were females. Age group of cases was distributed evenly from 30 yrs. to 60 yrs. Pre-operative diagnosis of oral cavity cancer included 5 cases of lower gingiva-buccal sulcus (GBS) squamous cell carcinoma, 3 cases of upper GBS squamous cell carcinoma, and 1 case of retromolar trigone squamous cell carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS Population-based screening, early diagnosis based on awareness of early symptoms and signs and properly linked cancer registry system is needed to decrease the burden of head and neck cancer on government and medical personnel.

Cut neck injury needs prolonged hospitalization, high cost care, reduced quality of life and above all death. Proper exploration is a must in preventing co-morbidities like shock, sepsis, laryngotracheal stenosis or fistula formation. Neck trauma can involve muscles, vessels, nerves, bone and hollow viscera. Though the repair of neck means planning and skill for repair of the structure, the tracheal repair needs special attention to avoid tracheal stenosis. 12 patients were included in the prospective study of 8 months. Management plan was undertaken which were thoroughly studied and discussed with respect to two tracheoplasty cases done in ENT OT, AMCH. Apart from haemodynamic stability all patients were assessed for injury to hollow viscera and planned accordingly as this centre is an important centre for airway reconstruction. Male female ratio was 11:1. Suicidal cut neck injury was the most common cause. Two cases were of tracheal stenosis post tracheostomy. One of the case had associated neurovascular injury but with patent airway. Rest of the cases were repaired under general and/or local anaesthesia. Primary aim should be to maintain airway and to look for the extent of injury to reduce morbidity. Expertise of surgeons' skill is developing every day hence the successfulness of repair will be tested by least of morbidity. From this institute which is skilled in airway reconstruction we could comment that airway reconstruction team should be an integral part of surgeons' team.

Objective. Thyroid surgery has travelled a long path, from a surgery which once was considered deemed to fail and even led to death, to the current time when newer techniques are being tested to make the incision smaller and smaller. The aim of our study is to give a precise detailed stepwise description of medial and lateral surgical approach with the anatomical basis and to compare their feasibility and safety. Methods. 104 cases presenting with thyroid swelling in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Assam Medical College Dibrugarh from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2019, were selected and randomisation was done based on day of admission from OPD. Basic demographic data, preoperative diagnosis, operative time, blood loss, need for transection of strap muscles, and complications were recorded. Result. The distribution of thyroid cases according to age ranged from 17 to 81 years. The prevalence of thyroid disorders was the highest (37.5%) in the age group of 31–40 yrs. Of a total of 104 thyroid cases, 49 were colloid goitre, 24 were multinodular goitre, 9 were follicular neoplasm category 4, 4 were papillary thyroid carcinoma, 2 were follicular neoplasm category 3, and 3 were follicular neoplasm category 5. Conclusion. Out of the two approaches, lateral approach thyroidectomy showed better results with fewer complications. A single structure (superior belly of omohyoid) can be used as a guide to preserving all vital structures related to the thyroid gland.