title: Survival and function in patients with tumours of the head and neck operated on and reconstructed with free flaps.
abstract: From 1983 to 2003, 131 patients were operated on in the head and neck region with 139 free flaps. They were operated on using a team approach of ear, nose, and throat surgeons and plastic surgeons, and sometimes maxillofacial surgeons. The tumours were squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) 104 (80%), salivary gland cancer 13 (10%), sarcoma 5 (4%), basal cell carcinoma 4 (3%), and others 4 (3%). The staging of the primary intraoral SCC tumours (n=79) was 42% in stage II, 28% in stage III, and 30% in stage IV. The survival of patients with primary oral SCC was compared with a previously treated previous series that gave an increase in tumour-related five-year survival from 48% to 58%. Most flaps were radial forearm flaps (73%). Fifteen percent were vascularised bone transfers. A questionnaire was sent to patients who had had oral/oropharyngeal tumours to measure function and satisfaction, to which 47/49 responded. The results including ability to chew and swallow; speech was good, with a median score of 0.78 (range 1-0).
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Hand Surgery and Burns, University Hospital, Linköping, Sweden. disa.lidman@lio.se
authors.forename: Disa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lidman
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niklasson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D010610:Pharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D020127:Recovery of Function; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D016019:Survival Analysis