SOFT-TISSUE SARCOMAS OF THE HEAD AND NECK ASSOCIATED WITH SURGICAL TRAUMA

Soft tissue sarcomas in the head and neck are rare. Aetiological facto rs relating to these tumours have not yet been identified. The associa tion with von Recklinghausen's disease and with irradiation is however well recognized. In the literature it has been speculated that trauma may also play a role in the development of soft tissue sarcomas. In t his article we present five patients with a history of surgical trauma at the site where a sarcoma later developed. Although we cannot prove a causal relationship, the relatively high incidence of possibly trau ma-related soft tissue sarcomas in a series of 60 patients we have see n over a 30-year period, suggests that such a relationship could exist .