These results suggest that there is no significant association between previously suspected risk factors and fat necrosis. The overall incidence of fat necrosis, however, is much higher than previously accepted, even though the need for corrective surgery is limited.

The fibula free flap (FFF) has been a workhorse in maxillofacial reconstruction. High success rates of this technique are reported. However, identifying risk factors for flap failure and analyzing complications can open the way to better patient care. A retrospective analysis was conducted of all FFFs performed over a 20-year period at a low-volume single tertiary center to identify risk factors and postoperative complications. A total of 129 FFFs were included (122 mandible, 7 maxilla). Complete flap failure occurred in 12.4% and partial flap failure in 7.8% of patients. A significant relation was found between younger age and flap failure, and most failures were associated with venous thrombosis. In-hospital surgical complications occurred in 60.5%, in-hospital medical complications in 49.6%, and out-of-hospital complications in 77.5% of patients. The in-hospital reintervention rate was 27.1%, and including salvaged flaps, flap survival rate was 87.6%. Osteomyocutaneous FFF failure (complete 12.4%; partial 7.8%) is an important clinical reality in a low-volume head and neck reconstruction center resulting in an in-hospital reintervention rate of 27.1%. Postoperative complications are frequent, both surgical and out-hospital complications. These results provide a better understanding of the limitations of the FFF in a low-volume center and can be used to optimize care in this kind of setting.

In our experience, the combination of an extensive surgical debridement and a free flap transfer is demonstrated to be an effective treatment for "chronic" osteomyelitis of the cranium.

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A variety of donor sites are available for mandibular reconstruction. We present here a different way of comparing two commonly-used bone flaps. The lengths of the usable parts in a total of 241 coxal bones, 91 mandibles and 60 fibulas were measured. The mandible was measured from condyle-to-condyle and the harvestable bone length (HBL) and usable (UBL) bone lengths in fibula and ilium were also measured. The bone thickness (BT) in 60 iliac crests was measured in two parallel lines from the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) along the iliac crest. The mandible was 32.17 mm shorter in females than in males. The total ilium UBL was 171.12 mm in females and 178.80 mm in males. The mean HBL of the fibula was 22.6 mm shorter in females than in males. However, in some fibulas in both females and males, only 4.2% and 21.1% of the HBL respectively could be used if the ultimate goal was to insert dental implants. We found significant correlations between BT and gender in both fibula and ilium (P≤ 0.05). The ilium offers constant BT throughout the usable bone area with a similar bone length to the fibula. In contrast, the fibula showed variable bone dimensions, so not all of it is clinically usable. This should especially be considered in females when a mandibular reconstruction is planned with the goal of occlusal rehabilitation. Clin. Anat. 29:773-778, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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