Development of the clinical use of distant flaps for head and neck reconstruction

The reconstruction of hard and soft tissue defects, mainly after ablative oncologic surgery in the head and neck area, is an evolving field. The use of free flaps for reconstruction of the head and neck is considered to be the surgical standard. In our analysis of more than 1000 free flaps we give an overview of the development of the use of different types of free tissue transfer to the head and neck area over the last 25 years. We show that the evolving field of head and neck reconstruction raises new possibilities with new types of flaps, whereas other types of flaps disappear in the everyday clinical use. The spectrum of reconstruction possibilities broadens with the number of different flap types available to the head and neck surgeon.