Mr. Aakshay Gulati is appointed as consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon, with a specialist interest in head and neck oncology and microvascular reconstruction, at the renowned Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, East Grinstead and is a core member of the West Kent Head & Neck multidisciplinary team. He has a keen interest in promoting higher education and regularly lectures and holds workshops in the fields of oral & maxillofacial surgery and implantology. He is the Training Programme Director for OMFS across Kent, Surrey & Sussex and also is an executive officer of European Association for CranioMaxilloFacial Surgery.

The neck dissection described by George Washington Crile back in 1906 formed the basis of the radical neck dissection. Since then various surgeons including Bocca, Hayes Martin and Suarez, amongst others have discussed various modifications, which have evolved further into the modern selective neck dissection. In my lecture, I discuss the history, evolution and classification of neck dissections. Indications for neck dissections primarily include oral cavity squamous cell carcinomas. I discuss the current evidence and guidelines around this topic as well as the role of sentinel lymph node biopsy and the challenges around these techniques. I also discuss the contemporary management of the neck in melanomas and importantly, does this show the way forwards for management of the neck in other conditions?