Perioperative management of patients undergoing major head and neck surgery

Project: Dissertation

Project Details

Description

The aim of this PhD project is to explore, and seek to optimise, the perioperative part of the treatment course for patients undergoing major head and neck surgery.

Head and neck tumours constitute one of the most common cancer forms worldwide, and the incidence is rising. For locally advanced tumours the only curative treatment oftentimes consists of extensive surgery, including reconstruction with a free microvascular flap, followed by radiotherapy. But this combination treatment is challenging, associated with significant morbidity, frequent complications (with flap failure being one of the most dreaded), and substantial healthcare costs.

Skåne University Hospital in Lund is one of a few centres in Sweden treating this patient group, making these issues a daily clinical challenge. The foundation of my PhD project is the desire to enable optimisation of the perioperative part of the treatment process in order to increase success and minimise complications.

The project has three focus areas:
- Identification of preoperative risk factors for peri- and postoperative surgical and systemic complications.
- Observation of perioperative coagulation parameters, and the potential identification of factors associated with flap thrombosis, and/or bleeding, and flap failure.
- Evaluation of postoperative pain management with continuous popliteal nerve block for the subgroup of patients undergoing reconstructive surgery using a fibular flap.
StatusActive
Effective start/end date2018/08/01 → …

Collaborative partners

UKÄ subject classification

  • Anesthesiology and Intensive Care