Analysis of Comorbid Factors Influencing Free Flap Viability in Microsurgical Reconstruction

Introduction: Free flap reconstruction plays a vital role in modern reconstructive surgery, offering excellent outcomes in cases involving major trauma, cancer resections, and severe infections. It has become the preferred approach for repairing head-and-neck defects, boasting a high success rate of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Riani Situmorang, Yuanita Safitri Dianti, Lobredia Zarasade, Darween Rozehan Shah Iskandar Shah, Vijayendran Swaminathan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer – Medknow Publications 2025-01-01
Series:Biomolecular and Health Science Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/bhsj.bhsj_10_25
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850087640394629120
author Riani Situmorang
Yuanita Safitri Dianti
Lobredia Zarasade
Darween Rozehan Shah Iskandar Shah
Vijayendran Swaminathan
author_facet Riani Situmorang
Yuanita Safitri Dianti
Lobredia Zarasade
Darween Rozehan Shah Iskandar Shah
Vijayendran Swaminathan
author_sort Riani Situmorang
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Free flap reconstruction plays a vital role in modern reconstructive surgery, offering excellent outcomes in cases involving major trauma, cancer resections, and severe infections. It has become the preferred approach for repairing head-and-neck defects, boasting a high success rate of approximately 95%. Despite this, flap failure remains a risk, often influenced by patient-related factors. Comorbidities such as smoking, previous radiotherapy, advanced age, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and prior head-and-neck surgeries have all been implicated in increasing complication rates. These concerns prompted the authors to conduct a retrospective study aimed at refining patient selection for free flap procedures. Methods: This retrospective study evaluated the medical records of patients who underwent free flap reconstruction by consultants specializing in Hand, Microsurgery, and Oncoplasty (HMO). The study included 38 patients treated at the Department of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery between June 2020 and June 2024. Results: Among the 38 patients, 57.9% were between 19 and 59 years of age. The anterolateral thigh flap was the most frequently used, comprising 50% of cases. Overall, 73.7% of the flaps were viable. Fisher’s exact test revealed no statistically significant association between flap viability and the following comorbidities: age (P = 0.050), hypertension (P = 0.556), diabetes mellitus (P = 0.064), smoking (P = 0.298), and obesity (P = 0.164). Conclusion: Comorbidities including age, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, and obesity did not significantly impact free flap viability in this patient cohort.
format Article
id doaj-art-92348e88978e41cfb5f95483cf201962
institution DOAJ
issn 2620-8636
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Wolters Kluwer – Medknow Publications
record_format Article
series Biomolecular and Health Science Journal
spelling doaj-art-92348e88978e41cfb5f95483cf2019622025-08-20T02:43:10ZengWolters Kluwer – Medknow PublicationsBiomolecular and Health Science Journal2620-86362025-01-0181545810.4103/bhsj.bhsj_10_25Analysis of Comorbid Factors Influencing Free Flap Viability in Microsurgical ReconstructionRiani SitumorangYuanita Safitri DiantiLobredia ZarasadeDarween Rozehan Shah Iskandar ShahVijayendran SwaminathanIntroduction: Free flap reconstruction plays a vital role in modern reconstructive surgery, offering excellent outcomes in cases involving major trauma, cancer resections, and severe infections. It has become the preferred approach for repairing head-and-neck defects, boasting a high success rate of approximately 95%. Despite this, flap failure remains a risk, often influenced by patient-related factors. Comorbidities such as smoking, previous radiotherapy, advanced age, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and prior head-and-neck surgeries have all been implicated in increasing complication rates. These concerns prompted the authors to conduct a retrospective study aimed at refining patient selection for free flap procedures. Methods: This retrospective study evaluated the medical records of patients who underwent free flap reconstruction by consultants specializing in Hand, Microsurgery, and Oncoplasty (HMO). The study included 38 patients treated at the Department of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery between June 2020 and June 2024. Results: Among the 38 patients, 57.9% were between 19 and 59 years of age. The anterolateral thigh flap was the most frequently used, comprising 50% of cases. Overall, 73.7% of the flaps were viable. Fisher’s exact test revealed no statistically significant association between flap viability and the following comorbidities: age (P = 0.050), hypertension (P = 0.556), diabetes mellitus (P = 0.064), smoking (P = 0.298), and obesity (P = 0.164). Conclusion: Comorbidities including age, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, and obesity did not significantly impact free flap viability in this patient cohort.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/bhsj.bhsj_10_25comorbid factorsflap viabilityfree flaphuman and healthmedicine
spellingShingle Riani Situmorang
Yuanita Safitri Dianti
Lobredia Zarasade
Darween Rozehan Shah Iskandar Shah
Vijayendran Swaminathan
Analysis of Comorbid Factors Influencing Free Flap Viability in Microsurgical Reconstruction
Biomolecular and Health Science Journal
comorbid factors
flap viability
free flap
human and health
medicine
title Analysis of Comorbid Factors Influencing Free Flap Viability in Microsurgical Reconstruction
title_full Analysis of Comorbid Factors Influencing Free Flap Viability in Microsurgical Reconstruction
title_fullStr Analysis of Comorbid Factors Influencing Free Flap Viability in Microsurgical Reconstruction
title_full_unstemmed Analysis of Comorbid Factors Influencing Free Flap Viability in Microsurgical Reconstruction
title_short Analysis of Comorbid Factors Influencing Free Flap Viability in Microsurgical Reconstruction
title_sort analysis of comorbid factors influencing free flap viability in microsurgical reconstruction
topic comorbid factors
flap viability
free flap
human and health
medicine
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/bhsj.bhsj_10_25
work_keys_str_mv AT rianisitumorang analysisofcomorbidfactorsinfluencingfreeflapviabilityinmicrosurgicalreconstruction
AT yuanitasafitridianti analysisofcomorbidfactorsinfluencingfreeflapviabilityinmicrosurgicalreconstruction
AT lobrediazarasade analysisofcomorbidfactorsinfluencingfreeflapviabilityinmicrosurgicalreconstruction
AT darweenrozehanshahiskandarshah analysisofcomorbidfactorsinfluencingfreeflapviabilityinmicrosurgicalreconstruction
AT vijayendranswaminathan analysisofcomorbidfactorsinfluencingfreeflapviabilityinmicrosurgicalreconstruction