Abstract
Objective: to report a case of bilateral chylothorax after neck dissection due to tongue carcinoma, a rare complication described 65 times in the literature. Case Details: a 63-year-old woman attended at the head and neck surgery clinic with large vegetating lesion on the left lateral edge of the tongue, the incisional biopsy diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma, the patient was then referred for partial left glossectomy associated with radical neck dissection 2 on the left and supra-homoid neck dissection on the right. She evolved with moderate dyspnea on the 2nd postoperative day, through physical examination, chest X-ray and post-thoracentesis fluid analysis then bilateral chylothorax was diagnosed, an extremely rare complication, since there was no injury to the thoracic duct. Final considerations: this is a rare and important complication, the best method to minimize the consequences and the rate of morbidity is early diagnosis. Therefore, the records in the literature and clinical, surgical and clinical management should be improved in order to obtain a better prognosis for these patients.