How to pay attention to the repair of postoperative head and neck tumor defects?

Head and neck organs involve important physiological functions such as mastication, swallowing, speech, respiration, special sensation, etc., and also have important aesthetic features, so the requirements for repair and reconstruction of postoperative head and neck tumor defects are very high; with the improvement of surgical level and tumor resection rate, the technical requirements for repair and reconstruction are also improved accordingly, and the technique of one-stage repair and functional reconstruction has become one of the most important achievements in head and neck surgery. The purpose of defect repair after head and neck tumor resection is not only to restore anatomical integrity and promote wound healing, but more importantly, to choose a reasonable repair solution to reconstruct the physiological function of the original organ and enable patients to return to society. Therefore, when choosing the means of repair, more attention should be paid to the functional reconstruction after repair, rather than just one-stage healing, for example, tongue cancer to 1/2 tongue defect is mostly repaired with free forearm flap, while larger defects (2/3 of the tongue or defects involving the tongue root) are often repaired with free anterolateral femoral flap rather than pectoralis major muscle flap, because the function and shape of the free anterolateral femoral flap reconstructed tongue are better than that of pectoralis major muscle flap, and The donor area is more concealed, but it requires certain techniques of microvascular anastomosis, so not every hospital can do it. Another example is the repair of maxillary defects, which requires a combination of functional, anatomical and aesthetic considerations. Marginal mandibular resection may not be considered for reconstruction, but segmental resection requires reconstruction. The most widely used flap is the free fibula flap, which has sufficient bone tissue, rich muscle attachment, unlimited flap length, and segmental blood supply, and can be shaped into multiple sections as needed, and can be used to repair defects in any part of the mandible. The repair of maxillary defects is mainly considered to separate the mouth and nose and provide a support point for the facial skin in order to restore the chewing and swallowing function and relatively normal appearance. The maxillary resection stage I reconstruction can effectively improve the patient’s appearance and swallowing and chewing function, and the method of reconstruction can be chosen from free fibular bone myocutaneous flap or combined application of titanium mesh, etc. At present. Most hospitals have not yet carried out one-stage reconstructive maxillary surgery, the reason is often not the lack of technology but the backwardness of the treatment concept. Head and neck surgeons should do their best for their patients to obtain continuous improvement of the overall treatment outcome.