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Upper Extremity Outcomes in Radial Forearm Free Flap Reconstruction of the Head and Neck.
Article in OTO open. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: Fasciocutaneous radial forearm free flaps (RFFF) are widely used for head and neck soft tissue reconstruction. Osteocutaneous radial forearm free flaps (OCRFFF) enable bony reconstruction, but concerns for donor site morbidity have limited their use. Long-term donor site outcomes following OCRFFF remain understudied. Study Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Single-institution. Methods: Patients who underwent RFFF or OCRFFF between 2010 and 2023 were surveyed by phone. Upper extremity function was assessed using the Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (QuickDASH) survey (0-100 scale, higher scores indicate greater disability). Patients who were non-verbal or lacked follow-up after 2021 were excluded. QuickDASH scores were analyzed using Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Univariable linear regressions assessed clinical associations. Results: Survey response rate was 21.7%. The cohort included 26 RFFF, 14 OCRFFF, and 5 patients with multiple radial forearm flaps. At a median time of 3.25 years postoperatively (IQR: 2.2-5.6), OCRFFF patients had higher mean QuickDASH scores (21.6) than RFFF (10.7), suggesting greater functional limitation in OCRFFF cases ( Conclusions: OCRFFF patients reported greater difficulty in certain task-specific activities compared to RFFF, but overall donor site impairment following forearm free flap reconstruction is minimal. History of depression is associated with worse self-reported upper extremity function.
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