Complications of tissue expansion in the head and neck.

Abstract

The authors aim to present a comprehensive review detailing the present state of evidence with regard to complications following tissue expansion in the head and neck. A systematic literature search was conducted to identify all studies reporting complications of tissue expansion in the head and neck between 2000 and 2019. Subgroup comparisons based on expander locations and planes were conducted. A total of 7058 patients were included. Tissue expansion was associated with an overall complication rate of 8.73% (616/7058). The most common complications were extrusion (207/7009; 3.0%) and hematoma (200/7009; 2.9%). Overall complications were highest in the scalp (65/238; 27.3%) and lowest in the mastoid (347/5688; 6.1%). Complications were more common with expansion in the non-subcutaneous plane (63/590; 10.7%). In the absence of large clinical trials, systematic reviews such as these can help inform clinical guidelines and provide practitioners with an evidence-based reference to improve informed consent.