Implant-based dental rehabilitation in head and neck cancer patients after maxillofacial reconstruction with a free vascularized fibula flap: the effect on health-related quality of life

• Published in: Supportive care in cancer Vol. 30; no. 6; pp. 5411 - 5420
• Main Authors: Lodders, Johannes N., van Baar, Gustaaf J. C., Vergeer, Marije R., Jansen, Femke, Schulten, Engelbert A. J. M., Lissenberg-Witte, Birgit I., Verdonck-de Leeuw, Irma M., Forouzanfar, Tymour, Leusink, Frank K. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analysis; Cancer patients; Cancer surgery; Care and treatment; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dental implants; Fibula; Head & neck cancer; Head and neck cancer; Head and Neck Neoplasms - surgery; Health aspects; Humans; Implant dentures; Maxillofacial surgery; Medical records; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nursing; Nursing Research; Oncology; Original; Original Article; Pain Medicine; Quality of Life; Reconstructive surgery; Rehabilitation Medicine; Retrospective Studies; Surgical outcomes; Head and neck cancer; Fibula free flap; Rehabilitation; Dental implants; Quality of life
• ISSN: 0941-4355; 1433-7339; 1433-7339
• DOI: 10.1007/s00520-022-06944-4

Purpose To evaluate the effect of implant-based dental rehabilitation (IDR) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients after reconstruction with a free vascularized fibula flap (FFF). Methods Eligible patients were identified by retrospectively reviewing the medical records of patients treated in Amsterdam UMC-VUmc. HRQoL data were used from OncoQuest, a hospital-based system to collect patient-reported outcome measures in routine care. Data were used of the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-H&N 35 before FFF reconstruction (T 0 ) and after completing IDR (T 1 ). Data were statistically analysed with the chi-square test, independent samples t test and linear mixed models. Results Out of 96 patients with maxillofacial FFF reconstruction between January 2006 and October 2017, 57 patients (19 with and 38 without IDR) had HRQoL data at T 0 and T 1 . In the cross-sectional analysis, patients with IDR scored significantly better at T 0 and T 1 on several EORTC domains compared to the patients without IDR. Weight loss was significantly different in the within-subject analysis between T 0 and T 1 for patients with IDR ( p  = 0.011). However, there were no significant differences in the mean changes of all the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-H&N35 scores between the defined timepoints for patients with IDR compared to those without. Conclusions In this study, no differences were found in the course of HRQoL in HNC patients who had undergone IDR after maxillofacial FFF reconstruction, compared to those who had not. Patients should be preoperatively informed to have realistic expectations regarding the outcome of IDR.