The Department of Head & Neck Surgery was formed in 2022 with a vision to provide site-specific care to the tumors arising from the head and neck region. Head and neck cancers are the second most common cancers in India. It encompasses a variety of subsites like oral cavity, larynx and pharynx, nose and paranasal sinus, ear canal, anterior and lateral skull base, salivary glands, thyroid and parathyroids, and face. Each of these caters to important functions ranging from simple aesthetics to complex physiologies like special senses, and voice and hormone production. Being an anatomically critical area, head and neck surgeries demand extreme precision maintaining oncological and surgical principles.

The department performs around 300 major head and neck surgeries in a year, and caters to the patients mostly from Karnataka, Kerala, Goa and Maharashtra. The surgical armamentarium extends from minimally invasive surgeries like micro-laryngoscopy, trans-oral laser surgery to major composite resection of buccal mucosa, mandibulectomy, maxillectomy, glossectomy, laryngectomy, thyroidectomy, sialadenectomy, neck dissection, local and regional pedicled flaps and microvascular free tissue transfer. The department provides evidence-based care through multidisciplinary tumor board approach with Surgical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Medical Oncology, Palliative Medicine, Nuclear Medicine, Radiology, Pathology and Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. The extensive supportive and rehabilitative care is provided by departments of Speech Language Pathology, Audiology, Physiotherapy, Respiratory therapy, Occupational therapy, Dietetics and Psycho-oncology.