To determine the incidence and causes of perioperative complications in patients who undergo microvascular free flap procedures for reconstruction of the head and neck. Setting: Academic tertiary care medical center. Patients and Methods: A total of 400 consecutive microvascular free flap procedures were performed for reconstruction of the head and neck, with 95% of the defects arising after the treatment of malignancies. Flap donor sites included radial forearm (n=183), fibula (n=145), rectus abdominis (n=38), subscapular system (n=28), iliac crest (n=5), and a jejunal flap. Patient-related characteristics (age; sex; diagnosis; comorbidity level; tumor stage; defect site; primary vs secondary reconstruction; and history of surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy) and the incidence of perioperative complications were recorded prospectively over a 7-year period. Results: The perioperative mortality was 1.3%. Overall, perioperative complications occurred in 36.1% of all cases. Free flaps proved to be extremely reliable, with a 0.8% incidence of free flap failure and a 3% incidence of partial flap necrosis. Perioperative medical complications occurred in 20.5% of cases, with pulmonary, cardiac, and infectious complications predominating. Multivariate statistical analysis showed significant relationships between the incidence of perioperative complications and preoperative comorbidity level as indicated by American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) status (P=.02). Conclusions: The present study confirms that free flaps are extremely reliable in achieving successful reconstruction of the head and neck. The incidence of perioperative complications is related to preoperative comorbidity level.

Despite their reliance on small-vessel anastomoses for survival, free flaps are extremely reliable with regard to the incidence of flap necrosis, which contributes to a low incidence of perioperative complications. Selection of flaps that have proven dependability contributes to a successful outcome. While this technique frequently requires lengthy surgery in an elderly patient population, the perioperative mortality) and morbidity are acceptable. Because of their unsurpassed reliability, free flaps have become the preferred method of reconstruction for most patients with major defects in the head and neck region.

Although microvascular head and neck reconstruction in the elderly is very reliable, the incidence of medical complications and the cost of therapy are significantly increased in octogenarians.

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MR imaging with iron oxide can enable specific differentiation of metastatic and benign nodes in patients with head and neck cancer. This agent may potentially enhance the detection of metastatic lymph nodes and deserves further investigation.

Advantages of radial forearm free flaps for microvascular pharyngoesophageal function include high flap reliability, limited donor site morbidity, larger vascular pedicle caliber, and the ability to achieve good quality tracheoesophageal speech. The swallowing outcome is similar to that achieved after jejunal flap pharyngoesophageal reconstruction. The main disadvantage of this technique relates to a moderately high incidence of pharyngocutaneous fistulas, which contributes to delayed oral intake in affected patients.

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