Revista de Medicina Pulmonar

Past, present and future directions and rational approach in reconstruction of head and neck cancer

Chala Andres

The main problem of head and neck cancer is the consequence of a devastating tumor and the impaired functional and esthetics outcome due to its treatment, sometimes surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or a combination of them. It usually affects quality of life. Reconstruction when necessary is vital to allow the tissues a proper scarring while interposing healthy tissue also promoting start adjutancy earlier and also improving rehabilitation, function, esthetics and quality of life. For more than a century reconstruction has been developing trying to achieve such goal, starting from ingenious techniques to rotate or transplant a new and healthy tissue, up to the use of technology to improve the microvascular free flaps results. In the millennium of technologies, a rational approach must be considered to avoid falling in the sometimes unnecessary trend of insetting free flaps and instead offer the best and fair to guarantee a cure or control of cancer with the best quality of life, taking into special consideration the rational use of economical and scientific resources