Primary surgical treatment versus salvage surgery: Results of free flap reconstruction performed in 100 patients with oropharyngeal cancer

Abstract

This research sought to analyze the functional results of free flap reconstruction in two groups of patients with head and neck cancer: first group started with radiochemotherapy followed by reconstructive surgery, second group underwent initiative surgery. Materials and methodsIn a group of 100 patients, surgery was used as the primary form of treatment in 55 (55%) patients, and the remaining 45 patients (45%) had chemoradiotherapy introduced first. Statistical analysis was performed with Statistica v. 12. The chi-square test and test of proportion were used for categorical data. Student's t-test was used for continuous data. Probability of survival was calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method where the censoring variable was time to death. To compare survival between cohorts, we used the Cox's test. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. Results and conclusionsInitial radiochemotherapy prior to surgical treatment indicated an increased risk of local tumor recurrence, flap degeneration, and other local complications.