• The Laryngoscope · Dec 2016

    Short-stay hospital admission after free tissue transfer for head and neck reconstruction.

    • Conor M Devine, Timothy M Haffey, Samuel Trosman, and Michael A Fritz.
    • Head and Neck Institute, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.
    • Laryngoscope. 2016 Dec 1; 126 (12): 2679-2683.

    Objectives/HypothesisTo show that, for patients with few medical comorbidities and at low risk for airway compromise or fistula formation, early discharge after free tissue transfer for head and neck reconstruction is a safe and viable option.Study DesignRetrospective chart review.MethodsA cohort of patients who underwent free tissue transfer for head and neck reconstruction between February 2010 and December 2014 and who were discharged from the hospital by postoperative day 3 were reviewed.ResultsFifty patients undergoing 51 free-tissue transfer surgeries were discharged by postoperative day 3. The surgeries performed included anterolateral thigh free flaps (ALT) (n = 46), radial forearm free flaps (n = 2), latissimus myogenous and myocutaneous free flaps (n = 1), supraclavicular free flap (n = 1), and serratus free flap (n = 1). All ALT flaps were harvested exclusively as perforator free flaps; and the vast majority used superficial temporal, angular, or facial vessels. All free flaps were viable without evidence of vascular compromise at discharge and the initial follow-up appointment. One patient required take-back for successful flap salvage. One patient experienced late flap failure (between 2-3 weeks postoperatively), requiring another surgery. This resulted in an overall success rate of 98% in this cohort. No other postoperative complications related to early discharge were identified.ConclusionIn a carefully selected subset of patients undergoing free tissue transfer, early discharge has been shown to be possible without compromising patient safety or surgery success rates.Level Of Evidence4. Laryngoscope, 126:2679-2683, 2016.© 2016 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…

What will the 'Medical Journal of You' look like?

Start your free 21 day trial now.

We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.