Emergency department visits and unplanned hospitalizations in the treatment period for head and neck cancer patients treated with curative intent: A population-based analysis.

•The proportion of patients in a given treatment-modality exposure who had at least one emergency department visit or unplanned hospitalization were as follows: surgery alone 28%, surgery followed by CCRT 53%, surgery followed by radiation 35%, CCRT alone 55%, and radiation alone 33%.•Patients receiving CCRT had a statistically higher likelihood of treatment period events.•The larynx/hypopharynx cancer subsite, higher comorbidity and more advanced stage of disease were all independent predictors of events.•Population based and largest study addressing this question to date.