Beschreibung:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>To evaluate the impact of postoperative depth of sedation in free flap transfers to the head and neck.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>A single center, retrospective cohort of 92 patients were stratified by depth of sedation, light sedation (RASS −1 or greater) or deep sedation (RASS less than −1), and analyzed for postoperative flap and medical complications.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Of the 92 patients 45 were included in the light sedation and 47 in the deep sedation group. Flap complication requiring return to the operating room occurred in 8 (22.2%) patients in light sedation compared to 12 (27.7%) (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.450) patients in deep sedation. A composite outcome of flap and medical complications occurred less frequently in the light sedation group 14 (31.8%) compared to deep sedation 32 (69.6%) (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> < 0.001).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p>There was no difference in return to the operating room between the two groups. Light sedation had reduced incidence of medical complications compared to deep.</jats:p></jats:sec>