Microsurgery is a surgical technique that combines the use of an operating microscope, specialized precision tools and various operating techniques.
These techniques are primarily used to anastomose small blood vessels (arteries and veins) and nerves. Microsurgery is the base of free tissue transfer and has revolutionised H&N reconstruction. Microsurgical procedures are a mixture of surgical science and art and take many years of training to become proficient. Dr Kyzas is the only OMFS Surgeon in Cyprus with formal training in microsurgery and has performed hundreds of microsurgical procedures in his career.
Many specialties employ microsurgical techniques, including neurosurgery, plastic surgery, opthalmology and orthopaedics. In OMFS H&N surgery, microsurgery is used in:
- Free flap surgery (microvascular anastomosis – suture donor and recipient vessels together)
- Nerve suturing or nerve grafting (particular for repair of the facial nerve)
- Repair of lacrimal or parotid ducts following trauma
- Paediatric trauma
- Cleft lip and palate surgery
Having a surgeon with skills and competencies in microsurgery is now a mandatory requirement for any team treating H&N cancer in a multidisciplinary fashion in UK, USA and Europe. You should ask your surgeon about it and ask to be referred accordingly for your treatment.