ABSTRACT
Introduction: Patients who require surgery to treat head and neck cancer are at higher risk of perioperative complications and this scenario is not different for patients with malignant tumors of the oral cavity. Thus, the objective of the present study was to identify preoperative prognostic factors related to postoperative complications in the surgical treatment of oral cancer. Methods: Prospective study with 43 consecutive squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity submitted to surgical treatment with curative intent. Results: Seventeen patients presented postoperative complications until the thirtieth day of follow-up, of which 17.6% required surgical reoperation. The most common complications were suture dehiscence and surgical site infections. Alcohol abuse (p=0.004), pT4a tumors (p=0.044), tumors with thickness greater than 10 mm (p=0.002), patients with mGPS score 1 and 2 (p=0.027) and flap reconstruction (p <0.001) were associated with higher rates of postoperative complications. To the multivariate analysis, patients with tumor thickness greater than 10 mm (HR=11,240, 95% CI: 1,052-120,059, p=0.045 - logistic regression) and reconstructed with myocutaneous flap (HR=18,415, 95% CI: 1,849-183,359, p=0.013 - logistic regression) had a higher risk of developing postoperative complications. Conclusion: Tumor thickness greater than 10 mm or use of myocutaneous flaps in the reconstruction were the predictors of risk of postoperative complications in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity.