Postoperative drainage in head and neck surgery for oral cancer

摘要

Abstract Objective Previous reports regarding postoperative drainage have documented complications associated with the drainage volume (DV). However, there is little information available concerning the postoperative and operative factors that influence postoperative DV. In this study, we retrospectively investigated the relationship between postoperative drainage and various risk factors in patients undergoing head and neck surgery for oral cancer. Methods This study included 136 patients (88 males, 48 females, mean age 67.2±12.9years) who underwent head and neck surgery for oral cancer. We retrospectively investigated the following variables: age, sex, subsite, medical history, surgical procedure, operative time, blood loss, duration of drain retention, DV, and postoperative complications. Results DV after reconstruction with a pectoral major musculocutaneous flap was significantly higher than DV after reconstruction with a forearm flap (p 0.05). DV was significantly greater in cases involving a large amount of blood loss or a long operative time (p 0.05). DV was significantly greater after modified radical neck dissection than after supraomohyoid or submandibular neck dissection (p 0.05). DV was significantly greater in patients receiving antithrombotic therapy than in patients without (p 0.05). Multiple regression analysis revealed that total DV was positively correlated with older age, antithrombotic therapy, type of surgery (advanced surgery), and type of neck dissection (wide range). Conclusions DV was greater in those with older age, antithrombotic therapy, advanced surgery, and wide-ranging neck dissection. Therefore, clinicians should consider these risk factors and pay special attention to the postoperative management of drains in such cases. ]]>