Extraabdominal desmoids represent one group of deep fibromatoses. These aggressive nonmetastasizing tumorlike lesions have a strong tendency to local infiltration, with a recurrence rate of about 40%. Trauma, hormones and heredity have been implicated as etiologic factors. Shoulder, chest wall, back and thigh are favored sites. By combination of different diagnostic procedures the number of differential diagnoses can be reduced to only a few. While in former times surgery was thought to be the only kind of therapy, nowadays adjuvant procedures like radiation, hormonal therapy and also chemotherapy are becoming more and more important. Amputation or other mutilating procedures should be done only if the tumor recurs repeatedly.

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The majority of lesions of the spinal accessory nerve occur as an iatrogenic injury after lymph node biopsy in the posterior cervical triangle (trigonum colli laterale). In most cases the accessory nerve palsy is not recognised immediately after the injury. Therefore surgical repair is often performed too late to regain sufficient function of the paralytic trapezius muscle. Later than 6 months after the injury, reconstruction seems to be hopeless. However, "timely" reconstructions often have poor results. Exact knowledge of anatomy, postoperative check of the trapezius muscle and, if an accessory nerve injury has occurred, early reconstructive procedures (neurolysis, reconstruction of nerve continuity) may on the one hand prevent iatrogenic lesions of the nerve and on the other hand improve the reconstructive result. A series of 6 patients with an injury of the spinal accessory nerve after lymph node biopsy is reported. In 2 cases primary coaptation, in 3 cases interpositional nerve grafting and in 1 case neurotization was performed. Clinical recovery was achieved in 3 of the 6 cases.