The influence of dose and time on wound complications following post-radiation neck dissection

Data on 205 patients who were treated with a planned unilateral neck dissection following radiation therapy were analyzed with the purpose of understanding how treatment factors affect the incidence of wound complications. There were 27 occurrences of wound complication in the patient series. Logistic regression was used to analyze the data. We found that the surgical technique of flap reconstruction gave a significant increase in wound complications. There was a suggestion, although not statistically significant, that higher total doses increased the complication rate, that lower fraction sizes reduced the complication rate, and that longer overall radiotherapy treatment times were associated with higher complication rates. There was no association between the incidence of complications and the time interval between the end of radiotherapy and surgery.