Clinical experience with 80 microvascular couplers in 64 free osteomyocutaneous flap transfers for mandibular...

Microvascular couplers have been introduced as an alternative method for anastomosis in mandibular reconstruction. This study included 64 patients who had undergone free flap reconstruction for mandibular defects and had been scheduled for follow-up at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. After completion of the tumour resection and harvesting of the osteomyocutaneous flap, appropriate preparation of both ends of the vessels was performed for microsurgery. Single-vein anastomoses were performed in 35 patients and double-vein anastomoses in 29 patients. Except for 75 couplers used for venous anastomosis only, both arterial and venous anastomoses were performed using the coupler in seven flaps. No flap failures occurred in these cases, resulting in an overall flap success rate of 100%. As expected, anastomoses were completed successfully using the coupler in 78 out of 80 attempted cases (97.5%). Additional large and randomized studies are needed to compare the outcomes of coupler anastomoses to those of traditional sutured anastomoses, and to define to what extent this would present cost-savings per procedure.