Mortality Within 30 Days After Head and Neck Free Flap Reconstruction: A Systematic Review

Risk factors for evaluating early mortality after microvascular reconstruction of head and neck cancers

BACKGROUND

Free tissue transfer reconstruction carries significant complication rates in surgical head and neck oncology. A registry-based approach offers a possibility to investigate the factors affecting increased morbidity and early mortality, that is, death within 6 months of treatment.

METHODS

A retrospective registry review was conducted on a series of 317 consecutive microvascular free tissue transfers in head and neck cancer patients performed during 2013-2017 at the Helsinki University Hospital (Helsinki, Finland). All surviving patients had a minimum follow-up of 2 years (range 24-84 months).

RESULTS

Overall, 36 (11.4%) early deaths occurred in this series. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, patients aged 75 years and older (p = 0.019), Adult Comorbidity Evaluation-27 (ACE-27) score of 3 (p = 0.048), tumor class T3 (p = 0.005), lymph node class N2 (p = 0.014), or thrombocyte count of 360 (× 10⁹ L) or more (p = 0.001) were more likely to die within 6 months of surgery. Of these 36 patients, 27 (75%) had a complication warranting hospital care and most (n = 22, 61%) had several complications.

CONCLUSIONS

Early postoperative mortality most frequently affects patients aged 75 years and above, with a high ACE-27 score, advanced tumor stage, or high thrombocyte count. Therefore, preoperative assessment and patient selection should have a crucial role in this patient population.

Maxillofacial free flap surgery outcomes in critical care: a single-center investigation looking for clues to improvement

Background

Maxillofacial surgery for free flap reconstructions is associated with many complications due to technical complexity and comorbidity of patients. With a focus on critical care, the authors studied the impact of complications to highlight predictors of poor postoperative outcomes in order to implement optimization protocols.

Methods

This case-control study analyzed the relationship between perioperative variables and postoperative medical and surgical complications of patients who underwent head and neck surgery using fibular and forearm free flaps. The primary objective was the incidence of prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS). Secondary objectives were the incidence of ICU readmissions, postoperative infections, and 1-year mortality. A univariable logistic regression model was used. A study of mortality was performed with survival analysis. Regarding our primary objective, we performed a Benjamini-Hochberg procedure and a multivariable Poisson regression with defined variables of interest.

Results

The data of 118 hospital stays were included. Prolonged ICU LOS was observed in 47% of cases and was associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumopathies, intraoperative blood transfusion, and surgical duration. Medical and surgical complications were associated with prolonged ICU LOS. After the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure, infectious complications, complications, major complications, total number of pneumopathies, and operative time remained significant. At least one complication was experienced by 71% of patients during the hospitalization, and 33% of patients suffered from major complications. Infectious complications were the most common (40% of patients) and were mainly caused by pneumonia (25% of patients); these complications were associated with low preoperative hemoglobin level, intraoperative blood transfusion, accumulation of reversible cardiovascular risk factors, chronic alcohol consumption, and duration of surgery. Pneumonia was specifically associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The ICU readmission rate was 10% and was associated with lower preoperative hemoglobin level, pneumopathies, surgical duration, and use of a fibular flap. The 1-year mortality was 12%, and the survival analysis showed no association with prolonged ICU LOS. Poisson regression showed that ICU LOS was prolonged by smoking history, lower preoperative hemoglobin level, intraoperative blood transfusion, major complication, and pneumopathies.

Conclusions

Practices such as blood management and respiratory prehabilitation could be beneficial and should be evaluated as a part of global improvement strategies.