A word of caution: The skip metastases

✍ Scribed by Robert M. Eyers

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 143 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1043-3074
• DOI: 10.1002/hed.2880170417

✦ Synopsis

ANALYSIS OF FREQUENCY OF PULMONARY ATELECTASIS IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING PECTORALISMAJORMUSCULOCUTANEOUS FLAP RECONSTRUCTION

TO THE EDITOR I read with much interest the article of Schuller et al.' Fortunately, the frequency of pulmonary postoperative complications did not appear to be increased with the use of this type of reconstruction. The series comprised 152 evaluable patients with major head and neck surgery. Most likely, a substantial number underwent a (modified) radical neck dissection as part of the surgical treatment. These types of surgery are followed by phrenic paralysis in 8%-12% of Phrenic paralysis is correlated with a n increased incidence of postoperative pulmonary complication, ie, pulmonary atelectasis. I wonder how often in the study of Schuller et al.' the pulmonary atelectasis could be attributed to phrenic paralysislparesis, reducing the analyzed correlation with the use of the pectoralis major musculocutaneous flap.