The effect of admission to intensive care unit on outcomes and complication rates after head and neck reconstruction

The study objective is to evaluate the utilisation and effectiveness of intensive care unit (ICU) in the postoperative period as to its potential benefits to the head and neck reconstruction services. Materials and methods. This is a retrospective study on 143 consecutive patients who underwent 144 major head and neck microvascular reconstructive procedures performed by a single surgeon, that focused on perioperative management and on the relation between admission to ICU and complications/outcomes. Results. Thirty-four (23.6 %) patients were admitted to ICU during the early postoperative period. Admission to ICU was not associated with lower incidence of complications compared to direct admission to the Head and Neck ward: 29.4 % vs 27.3 % (p = 0.807709). Conclusion. Routinely early postoperative admission to ICU seems not to improve outcomes and/or reduce complications, and, as a consequence, ICU admission should be restricted to selected patients only.