Head and neck cancer reconstruction

Our consultant plastic surgeons work as part of a multidisciplinary team with the Trust’s ear nose and throat (ENT) department, to provide reconstructive surgery at Charing Cross Hospital following treatment for head and neck cancers.

We have an international reputation and extensive experience in treating skull base cancers and are experts in both soft tissue and bone-based reconstructions. Surgery is often combined with high quality prosthetics provided by the maxillo-facial prosthetics department. Our 30 day mortality statistics are some of the best in the country and we have achieved 100 per cent free flap survival over two years.

Our consultant plastic surgeons, Mr Simon Wood and Mr Navid Jallali, carry out the full spectrum of reconstruction surgery and have extensive experience in free tissue transfers. They perform a high number of operations each year, seeing over 100 patients – with a very high success rate of over 99 per cent.

Conditions and treatments

Following some forms of cancer surgery, reconstructive surgery is needed to give patients the best possible chance of normal speech and swallowing, and to ensure the best cosmetic results. In the most complex cases we use CT planning and prepared models to plan every detail of bone and soft tissue reconstructions.

We have the ability to perform microsurgical free tissue transfers (implanting tissue taken from other areas of the body), which means we can deal with any defect requiring reconstruction, including intra-oral cancers such as tongue, floor of mouth, roof of mouth and upper jaw. As a tertiary referral centre we also deal with tumours that are inoperable in other units.

Despite operating on large numbers of patients, we have a proven track record in this kind of surgery with extremely low complication and readmission rates.