Maxillofacial surgery compendium: insights from 1373 microvascular free flap reconstructions in the head and neck area

-test used to test for statistical significance of complication rates across years. A total of 1373 cases met the inclusion criteria. DCIA flaps suffered the highest rates of early flap loss (8.7%; x¯ = 3.6%) and wound infection (39.1%; x¯ = 13.5%). SFFs had the highest rate of anastomotic revision (25.0%; x¯ = 6.9%) and longest mean (SD) surgery duration: 715 ± 181 min. Donor site complications were most common among RFFs (36.0%) and FFFs (34.5%). Overall, wound infection rates were higher among bony rather than soft tissue flaps (23.0% vs. 7.8%). FFFs were associated with fewer recipient-site complications than SFFs and DCIA flaps, but donor site complications were higher. Among soft tissue flaps, complication rates did not differ significantly. Overall, complications at the recipient site were more frequent among bony compared to soft tissue flaps.