Open AccessOutcomes of Re-exploration Procedures After Head and Neck Free Flap Reconstruction
Author(s) -
Akshay Kudpaje,
Krishnakumar Thankappan,
Rajisha Paruthappara Rajan,
Sivakumar Vidhyadharan,
Deepak Balasubramanian,
Abhijeet Wakure,
Jimmy Mathew,
Mohit Sharma,
Subramania Iyer
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
indian journal of surgical oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.231
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 0976-6952
pISSN - 0975-7651
DOI - 10.1007/s13193-021-01368-8
Subject(s) - medicine , surgery , head and neck , free flap , surgical oncology , retrospective cohort study , microsurgery
This study was conducted to evaluate the outcomes of re-exploration procedures done after head and neck microvascular flap reconstructions. This is a retrospective review of 109 flaps in 106 patients (three patients had two flaps each) that underwent re-exploration procedures in 1001 consecutive free flap surgeries. The outcome was analysed in terms of the type of the flaps, re-exploration rate, flap salvage rate and overall flap success rate. Free radial forearm (RFF) was the commonest flap done (354, 35.3%). One hundred nine flaps underwent re-exploration procedures in 106 patients. Out of this, 79 flaps could be salvaged, and 30 flaps failed. There were also another ten flaps, which failed without any re-exploration. The overall re-exploration rate was 10.8%. The flap salvage rate was 72.4%. The overall flap success rate was 96.1%. Nearly three-fourths of the flaps with vascular compromise can be successfully salvaged with appropriate and timely intervention.