The Safety of Microsurgical Head and Neck Reconstruction in the Elderly Patients

ABSTRACT

By means of microsurgical free-tissue transfer providing a large amount of required tissue, the surgeon can resect tumoral tissue more safely, which allows tumor-free margins and enhances the reliability of the ablative surgery that otherwise could not be performed radically. The morbidity of elective free-tissue transfer seems to be quite low, carrying acceptable risks for most patients. But the elderly patients are at risk for cardiac and respiratory problems, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary emboli and infection merely as a function of age. This study was undertaken to define further risks of the elderly population with regards to free-tissue transfer. We retrospectively reviewed our experience with 110 microsurgical free-tissue transfers for head and neck reconstruction in patients greater than 60 years of age. Microsurgical procedures in all cases were preformed by the plastic and reconstructive department at Yonsei medical center. The investigated parameters were patient demographics, past medical history, American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA) status, site and cause of defect, the free tissue transferred and postoperative complication including free-flap success or failure. There were 46 patients in the age group from 60 to 64 years, 34 patients from 65 to 70 years, and 30 patients 70 years or older. There happened 3 flap losses, resulting in a flap viability rate of 97%. Patients with a higher ASA designation experienced more medical complication(p=0.05, 0.01, 0.03 in each age group I, II, III) but not surgical complication p=0.17, 0.11, 0.54 in each age group I, II, III). And the relationship between postoperative complication and age groups was not significant. These observations suggest that major determinant for postoperative medical complication be the patient's American Society of Anesthesiologists score, and chronologic age alone should not be an exclusion criterion when selecting patients for free-tissue transfer.