In this video, Mount Sinai head and neck cancer surgeons perform an anterolateral thigh (ALT) free flap to reconstruct a large soft tissue defect of the head and neck after removing a large, cancerous tumor. Free flaps are pieces of tissue from a patient’s own body taken with a specific artery and vein that are then connected, or anastomosed to vessels in the patients head and neck. The ALT free flap is rather versatile and can be used to reconstruct a variety of areas. Mount Sinai is one of the largest head and neck cancer centers in the United States and routinely performs hundreds of free flaps. For smaller tumors of the throat, Mount Sinai is able to offer patients transoral robotic surgery, a minimally invasive approach. For these smaller tumors that occasionally require a free flap, a radial forearm free flap or other similar, smaller flap may be most suitable.
Eric M. Genden, MD, MHCA, FACS Dr. Isidore Friesner Professor and Chair of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs Professor of Neurosurgery and Immunology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Director, Head and Neck Institute-Center of Excellence for Head and Neck Cancer Mount Sinai Health System
Michael Berger, MD Assistant Professor, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Division of Otology-Neurotology, Lateral Skull Base Surgery Mount Sinai Health System
Raymond L. Chai, MD Associate Professor, Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Mount Sinai Health System
Mohemmed Nazir Khan, MD Assistant Professor, Department of Otolaryngology Mount Sinai Union Square
Diana N. Kirke, MD Assistant Professor, Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery The Mount Sinai Hospital
Scott Allan Roof, MD Assistant Professor, Head and Neck Surgery Mount Sinai Health System
Marita S. Teng, MD Professor, Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Mount Sinai Health System
Mark Urken, MD Chief, Division of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology, Co-Director, Institute for Head and Neck and Thyroid Cancer, Department of Otolaryngology, Mount Sinai Union Square Mount Sinai Health System
Zachary G. Schwam, MD - Assistant Professor, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Division of Otology-Neurotology, Lateral Skull Base Surgery Mount Sinai Health System
