Invasive surgical management of cervical internal jugular venous compression: A literature review

BACKGROUND: Internal jugular vein (IJV) compression is associated with several central nervous system symptoms, including but not limited to headache, blurred vision, tinnitus, and brain fog. Cranial venous compression is generally treated with stenting; however, the management of cervical IJV compression is not standardised, and there is very limited published data on outcomes. The objective of this review is to assess the current surgical interventions used in patients with cervical IJV compression and their outcomes. METHODS: We performed a literature search on electronic databases for original articles studying surgical interventions for cervical IJV compression. All studies, regardless of patient population or study type, were included. RESULTS: All studies that included at least one case in which a surgical intervention was used to treat cervical IJV compression were considered. Selection criteria had to clearly identify the compression of the IJV in the cervical region. The 14 studies included in this review ranged from case reports to small, single-center cohort studies. Complications were recorded in five studies analysed. Outcome measures varied, but all studies documented the clinical symptoms of the patients. CONCLUSION: There is a lack of current large cohort studies or clinical trials analysing surgical interventions for patients with cervical IJV compression. The most common surgical intervention is styloidectomy. By understanding the trends and results of interventions previously performed by ENT and Neurosurgeons, more focused and larger studies can be conducted to determine effective strategies that yield the best clinical outcomes.