Regional Anesthesia for Head and Neck Reconstruction

Regional Anesthesia for the Management of Perioperative Pain for Free Flap Reconstruction of the Head and Neck: A Randomized Prospective Trial

By utilizing regional anesthesia blocks at the surgery tissue donor sites, it can potentially reduce post-operative pain while also reducing the use of opioids. It can aim to measure the reduction in opioid use, reduction in pain scores, patient satisfaction, and because there is not a current protocol established for regional anesthesia use for free flap reconstruction, and we aim to standardize the procedure.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Subjects undergoing microvascular fibula free flap reconstruction of the head and neck
• Subjects undergoing primary reconstruction for both benign and malignant etiology

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pregnant women
• Subjects with true allergies to the study drugs, reporting anaphylaxis in the past
• Subjects undergoing reconstruction with more than 1 free flap
• Subjects undergoing secondary reconstructions
• Subjects undergoing surgery for osteonecrosis
• History of enrollment in a pain management program
• Any subject currently enrolled in pain management, or currently taking long acting opioids such as methadone or oxycontin