Postoperative Management of Patients with Cervicofacial Free Flap in Surgical Intensive Care Unit: An Updated Clinical Protocol

Abstract

Postoperative management of complex cervico-facial cancer tumor removal followed by free flap reconstruction is evolving since its early beginning 20 years ago. Flap surveillance is a major goal in this period, however the management of comorbidities to predict a favorable outcome cannot be neglected. Based on our experience in this field and recent literature we updated our postoperative management protocol which focus on management of different comorbidities to maintain favorable outcome for the graft and the patient.