Problems in cranio-facial surgery

Four geographically widely separated medical centres with a primary interest in cranio-facial surgery present their combined complications to illustrate the dangers and unsolved problems of this surgery. There wre 149 cases with 2 deaths and 3 other life threatening situations (infections). Approximately 60% of the patients had no complications (90/149). Secondary corrections are often necessary to obtain the desired result or correct problems produced by the surgery. The complexity and rarity of the surgery and supporting disciplines is such that in the interest of the patient and the speciality concentration of this surgery in a few centres is desirable.