Free flap harvest will occasionally result in donor-site complications and morbidity. Most of these complications are managed simply without producing lingering effects on activities of daily living. However, some patients will sustain limb weakness, gait issues, chronic pain, and nonhealing wounds. Frank preoperative discussion between surgeon and patient is essential to maximize postoperative outcome and manage expectations. Fastidious surgical technique will help minimize the risks of hematoma, seroma, and infection, while newer techniques can help prevent some issues with wound healing, limb weakness, and sensory changes. In this article, we describe the rates of common and rare complications at free flap donor sites, as well as techniques to prevent and manage them.

All listed authors have provided substantial contributions to the design of the study, data mining, analysis, and interpretation as well as critical revisions to the drafts and final approval for the version to be published.

Institutional review board approval not required, as this study is not a human subjects research.

H. A.: methodology, project administration, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing. J. S.: methodology, writing – review and editing, supervision. D. H.: methodology, writing – review and editing, supervision.

Review and expert opinion.

Article published online:
19 December 2022

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