This article addresses the clinical evaluation and some of the more common flaps and grafts used to reconstruct the surgical bed after excision of primary head and neck cancers and nodal metastases. This focused summary is intended to enhance the reader's understanding and improve the interpretation of posttreatment MR imaging. A practical approach to MR imaging evaluation of the postoperative reconstructed neck is presented. Readers of this article will become familiar with the normal appearances of commonly used flaps, recognize common complications, be able to delineate residual and recurrent neoplasm, and learn to avoid interpretative pitfalls.
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