The Cook-Swartz-Doppler probe is an easy to handle and reliable tool for free flap monitoring. In the head and neck region different confounders can affect the read out. We therefore analyzed the use of the Doppler probe regarding these potential difficulties and to compare the diagnostic accuracy in arterial or venous monitoring of free flaps in the head and neck region. A retrospective study was performed in which all patients were included who underwent free flap surgery in the head and neck region in the Department of Plastic Surgery and the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery of our institution between 2010 and 2018 and were monitored with an implanted Doppler probe. 147 free tissue transfers were included. No significance was found for arterial and venous placement of the Doppler probe for sensitivity (artery 83.3%; vein 84.6%; p = 0.87), specificity (artery 89.2%; vein 96.1%; p = 0.17) and negative predictive value (artery 96.7%; vein 94.2%; p = 0.55). A better positive predictive value for placing the Doppler probe around the artery (82.7%) than the vein (61.1%) was found in our study (p = 0.056). The better positive predictive value in arterial monitoring suggests that this is the more reliable measuring method to assess flap perfusion in the head and neck region.
Keywords: Cook-Swartz-Doppler probe; Free flap monitoring; Head and neck reconstruction; Head and neck surgery; Perfusion control.
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