Risk factors associated with postoperative complications of free anterolateral thigh flap placement in patients with head and neck cancer: Analysis of propensity score-matched cohorts.

This study demonstrated in matched patient cohorts that individual operator, flap size, and operative time were associated with postoperative complications of free ALT flap reconstruction in patients with head and neck cancer. To reduce the postoperative complication rate, this study implies the importance of length and length-to-width ratio in harvesting the flap, and meanwhile the surgeon experience in free-flap reconstruction.