Background: Free jejunal grafts are commonly used for reconstruction after surgery for hypopharyngeal and cervical esophageal cancer. However, few reports have addressed postoperative morbidity at the abdominal donor site.
Methods: Preoperative morbidity and postoperative complications were analyzed in 126 patients in whom free jejunal grafts had been harvested from 1992 through 1996.
Results: Although 27 patients had previously undergone abdominal surgery, there was no correlation between previous abdominal surgery and abdominal complications after graft harvest (p >.25). Abdominal complications were not correlated with patient age (p >.25).
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that previous abdominal surgery (except on the ileum) and patient age are not contraindications to free jejunal graft harvest.
Copyright 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.