Table 1.
Clinical parameters of the study population
| Variable | All (n = 308) | AHTN (n = 112) | DM (n = 40) | ASVD (n = 42) | AHTN/DM/ASVD (n = 151) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex (n)*** | |||||
| Male | 163 (52.9%) | 58 (51.8%) | 26 (65.0%) | 32 (76.2%) | 87 (57.6%) |
| Female | 145 (47.1%) | 54 (48.2%) | 14 (35.0%) | 10 (23.8%) | 64 (42.4%) |
| Age (years)*,**,***,**** | 64.0 (18.0) | 67.0 (17.0) | 69.0 (15.0) | 66.5 (18.0) | 67.0 (17.0) |
| BMI (kg/m2)*,**,**** | 24.3 (6.5) | 25.9 (6.6) | 27.8 (7.2) | 25.2 (6.9) | 25.9 (6.7) |
| ASA (n)*** | |||||
| 1 + 2 | 162 (52.6%) | 54 (48.2%) | 17 (42.5%) | 14 (33.3%) | 71 (47.0%) |
| 3 + 4 | 146 (47.4%) | 58 (51.8%) | 23 (57.5%) | 28 (66.7%) | 80 (53.0%) |
| Flap type (n) | |||||
| RFFF | 151 (49.0%) | 60 (53.6%) | 19 (47.5%) | 18 (42.9%) | 78 (51.7%) |
| ALTF | 122 (39.6%) | 40 (35.7%) | 19 (47.5%) | 20 (47.6%) | 60 (39.7%) |
| FFF | 35 (11.4%) | 12 (10.7%) | 2 (5.0%) | 4 (9.5%) | 13 (8.6%) |
| Flap location (n) | |||||
| Tongue | 45 (14.6%) | 16 (14.3%) | 7 (17.5%) | 6 (14.3%) | 23 (15.2%) |
| Floor of mouth | 64 (20.8%) | 22 (19.6%) | 7 (17.5%) | 11 (26.2%) | 28 (18.5%) |
| Mandible | 77 (25.0%) | 28 (25.0%) | 13 (32.5%) | 11 (26.2%) | 39 (25.8%) |
| Maxilla + hard palate | 39 (12.7%) | 14 (12.5%) | 5 (12.5%) | 1 (2.4%) | 16 (10.6%) |
| Cheek | 24 (7.8%) | 8 (7.1%) | 3 (7.5%) | 7 (16.7%) | 17 (11.3%) |
| Soft palate | 15 (4.9%) | 7 (6.3%) | 1 (2.5%) | 0 (0.0%) | 7 (4.6%) |
| Extraoral | 44 (14.3%) | 17 (15.2%) | 4 (10.0%) | 6 (14.3%) | 21 (13.9%) |
| Recipient vessel (n) | |||||
| External carotid artery | 16 (5.2%) | 5 (4.5%) | 1 (2.5%) | 4 (9.5%) | 8 (5.3%) |
| Facial artery | 120 (39.0%) | 41 (36.6%) | 17 (42.5%) | 20 (47.6%) | 60 (39.7%) |
| Lingual artery | 15 (4.9%) | 4 (3.6%) | 2 (5.0%) | 2 (4.8%) | 5 (3.3%) |
| Superior thyroid artery | 147 (47.7%) | 59 (52.7%) | 20 (50.0%) | 16 (38.1%) | 75 (49.7%) |
| Other | 10 (3.2%) | 3 (2.7%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 3 (2.0%) |
| Surgery duration (min) | 545.0 (155.0) | 547.5 (158.0) | 550.5 (140.0) | 539.5 (182.0) | 545.0 (153.0) |
| Flap ischemia duration (min) | 105.5 (34.0) | 109.0 (38.0) | 99.0 (31.0) | 101.5 (26.0) | 107.0 (36.0) |
| Smoking status (n) | |||||
| No | 182 (59.1%) | 66 (58.9%) | 27 (67.5%) | 25 (59.5%) | 93 (61.6%) |
| Yes | 126 (40.9%) | 46 (41.1%) | 13 (32.5%) | 17 (40.5%) | 58 (38.4%) |
| Prior neck dissection (n) | |||||
| No | 249 (80.8%) | 97 (86.6%) | 35 (87.5%) | 35 (83.3%) | 127 (84.1%) |
| Yes | 59 (19.2%) | 15 (13.4%) | 5 (12.5%) | 7 (16.7%) | 24 (15.9%) |
| Prior neck irradiation (n)*** | |||||
| No | 277 (89.9%) | 100 (89.3%) | 34 (85.0%) | 34 (81.0%) | 132 (87.4%) |
| Yes | 31 (10.1%) | 12 (10.7%) | 6 (15.0%) | 8 (19.0%) | 19 (12.6%) |
Parameters are indicated as numbers (with percentage) for categorical data (sex, ASA, flap type, flap location, recipient vessel, smoking status, prior neck dissection, prior neck irradiation) or median (with interquartile range) for metric data (age, BMI, surgery duration, flap ischemia duration) (separately described for all patients (All), for patients with arterial hypertension (AHTN), for patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), for patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease (ASVD), and for patients with arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus and or atherosclerotic vascular disease (AHTN/DM/ASVD)); testing for differences between groups with Chi-squared test (sex, ASA, flap type, smoking status, prior neck irradiation), Fisher’s exact test (prior neck dissection), Freeman–Halton test (flap location, recipient vessel) or Mann–Whitney test (age, BMI, surgery duration, flap ischemia duration): *p < 0.05 testing patients with AHTN vs. patients without AHTN; **p < 0.05 testing patients with DM vs. patients without DM; ***p < 0.05 testing patients with ASVD vs. patients without ASVD; ****p < 0.05 testing patients with AHTN/DM/ASVD vs. patients without AHTN/DM/ASVD
AHTN arterial hypertension, DM diabetes mellitus, ASVD atherosclerotic vascular disease, BMI body mass index, ASA American Society of Anesthesiologists score, RFFF radial free forearm flap, ALTF anterolateral thigh flap, FFF fibula free flap