Microvascular Surgery

When surgery is required in the head and neck, structures important for appearance and function may need to be removed. This is often necessary to eradicate cancer but may result in disfigurement or loss of functions such as speech or swallowing. Using microvascular surgical techniques, our fellowship-trained head and neck reconstructive surgeons are able to bring new tissue from other parts of the body to optimally repair and rehabilitate such defects. This is especially important in patients with large cancers that are removed and those that have received prior radiation therapy to the area.

These grafts may include bone from the leg, hip, arm, or back. They may also use skin or muscle from the arm, leg, abdomen, or back. These tissues are then placed to reconstruct the patient as well as possible. The blood vessels supplying the donated tissue are then sutured to recipient vessels in the neck with stitches one-third the size of a human hair to provide a blood supply for the flap.

Your surgeon may request preoperative testing to ensure normal anatomy and help predict the greatest success possible for the reconstruction. This surgery is quite long and extensive and usually results in at least a one week hospitalization for most cases. Post-operatively, you will frequently work closely with other members of our team, including physical therapists and speech and swallowing pathologists to optimize your recovery.

Our surgeons have extensive experience with these complex repairs and are regular presenters on their techniques at meetings and courses around the country.