Postoperative Management of Patients Undergoing Head and Neck Microvascular Free Flap Reconstructive Surgery: is Admission to an Intensive Care Unit Necessary?

Reconstruction with microvascular free flaps has become the standard of care for various surgical defects in head and neck region. Free flap reconstructive surgery is considered a major surgery with long intraoperative time and critical post-operative care. Close monitoring of the flap viability is of utmost importance especially in the first 48-72 hours after surgery, during which most of the vascular complications could occur; this interval is also critical for eventual successful salvage of an ischemic flap. Despite the delicacy of the matter worldwide there's not yet consensus about which is the most appropriate protocol for postoperative management after free flap surgery. Many patients undergoing free flap surgery are initially admitted to intensive care unit (ICU), even in cases of patients that do not meet any specific indication supporting the need for admission to an ICU setting. There are several reasons to this behaviour but, unfortunately, a post-operative stay in ICU is associated with increased nosocomial infections, complications and costs. The primary aim of this study will be to assess safety and postoperative outcomes (major and minor complications, flap failure rates and length of hospital stay) of patients undergoing reconstructive surgery with microvascular free flaps admitted to ICU compared to a non-ICU ward.The primary objective is to identify in which group of patients minor complications are more frequently encountered (complications that do not require surgical treatment in the operating room are considered as minor).