There are risks with any surgery, and it also depends on the experience of your ENT. I had three neck dissections, two that were radical, and one of them with radiation directly on the tumor during surgery, and a pec flap. These were the easier than chemo and radiation, and chemo was far worse than them all for me. Life is good. My neck is tight, numb, have limited left raising above my shoulder, limited trapezoid movement, but not much pain. I have more severe neuropathy in the legs, feet, slightly in the hands that bother me more than anything else, from chemo. A MRND and RND are basically the same, except the first preserves some structures, but the RND removes the nerve, vein and neck muscle, and lymph nodes in levels II-V. A MRND may just remove levels II-IV, sometimes. Good luck.