Abstract
A total of 215 oral cancer patients were treated from January 2001 to April 2009 at our department. Twenty-one (9.8%) patients were treated by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) while 194 patients were treated primarily by surgical resection with or without chemoradiotherapy (surgical group). Within the CCRT group, 5 patients (23.8%, salvage group) underwent surgical resection and reconstruction with free flap due to recurrence of the primary tumor. Seven patients of the surgical group who had already undergone pre-and post-operative chemoradiotherapy underwent secondary reconstruction with free flap (secondary reconstruction group). In this report, local and general complications and the success rate of free flap transfer, etc. are compared and discussed between the salvage group and the secondary reconstruction group. The outcomes of the salvage group were that all patients survived and that one patient was re-operated due to local recurrence. Surgical complications were seen in 4 patients (80%). In this group, two patients (40%) had poor results. In our department, surgical reconstruction with free flap transfer is usually the primary choice after surgical resection with chemoradiotherapy. The surgical problems encountered with this approach are the selection of micro-vessels of the neck region and the irradiation dosage.
