Fibula osteo-adipofascial flap for reconstruction of a cervical spine and posterior pharyngeal wall defect

Abstract

When reconstructing combined defects of the cervical spine and the posterior pharyngeal wall the goals are bone stability along with continuity of the aerodigestive tract. We present a case of a patient with a cervical spine defect, including C1 to C3, associated with a posterior pharyngeal wall defect after excision of a chordoma and postoperative radiotherapy. The situation was successfully solved with a free fibula osteo-adipofascial flap. The reconstruction with a fibula osteo-adipofascial flap provided several benefits in comparison with a fibula osteo-cutaneous flap in our case, including an easier insetting of the soft tissue component at the pharyngeal level and less bulkiness of the flap allowing our patient to resume normal deglutition.