Oromandibular reconstruction using microvascularized bone flap: report of 1038 cases from a single institution

Abstract

This retrospective study was performed to review 1038 patients who underwent mandibular reconstruction with free vascularized bone flaps at a single institution between 2006 and 2017. Of these patients, 827 (79.67%) had fibula flaps, 197 (18.98%) had deep circumflex iliac artery perforator (DCIA) flaps, and 11 (1.06%) had scapula bone flaps. The most common pathological diagnosis was ameloblastoma (n=366, 35.26%), followed by squamous cell carcinoma (n=278, 26.78%) and osteoradionecrosis (n=152, 14.64%). Fifty-seven patients (5.49%) had major complications requiring surgical intervention and one patient died of a pulmonary embolism. Venous crisis was the most frequent major complication (n=20, 1.93%), followed by haematoma (n=17, 1.64%) and flap necrosis (n=14, 1.35%). One-stage mandibular reconstruction was preferred whenever possible, as this generally decreases the financial and hospitalization burden. The four-segment method of jaw reconstruction appeared to achieve good aesthetic appearance results in Asian patients and this was not associated with a higher risk of segment ischemia compared with the three-segment method.