In a retrospective study of patients who underwent a head and neck microvascular free tissue transfer (HN-MFTT), researchers from UCSF Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) aimed to determine the factors associated with restarting therapeutic antibiotics within 30 days.
Findings by the research team, led by senior author Chase Heaton, MD, are shared in the article "Restarting Therapeutic Antibiotics Following Postoperative Prophylaxis in Head and Neck Microvascular Free Tissue Transfer." The authors identified several factors associated with the reinitiation of antibiotics within 30 days of HN-MFTT, including:
- Flap recipient site infection
- Hospital-acquired pneumonia
- Prior chemotherapy/immunotherapy
- Cardiovascular disease
- Osteocutaneous flaps
Of the 501 HN-MFTT procedures performed in 482 patients, antibiotics were restarted in 199 patients (209 procedures, or 42%).
The article was published in Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery. UCSF OHNS Resident Karolina Plonowska-Hirschfeld, MD, is the first author on the paper. Co-authors include UCSF OHNS's Michael Lindeborg, MD, Christian McNeill, PA-C, Daniel Knott, MD, Rahul Seth, MD, and Andrea Park, MD, and Aaron Zebolsky, a UCSF research follow and medical student at Western Michigan University School of Medicine.
Read more about research and news at UCSF OHNS.
