Patients requiring reconstruction for extensive defects often present after previous neck dissections, large resections, and chemoradiation are often vessel depleted, making the use of a free flap more perilous and challenging to accomplish. We reviewed 3 cases in which extensive prior surgery and radiation precluded the use of traditional recipient vessels in the neck, and yet these reconstructive approaches offered hope to patients who would otherwise not be candidates for further ablative or reconstructive surgery.
Karle WE, Anand SM, Clain JB, Scherl S, Buchbinder D, Smith ML, Urken ML
Head & Neck, November, 2013
