{"doi":"10.21873/anticanres.14246","title":"Utility of the Free Vascularized Fibula Flap to Reconstruct Oncologic Defects in the Upper Extremity","abstract":"BACKGROUND/AIM: Non-vascularized methods to reconstruct bone defects following tumor resection are associated with complications. As a result, the free vascularized fibular flap (FVF) has become a mainstay for reconstruction. The purpose of this study was to analyze FVF reconstruction in the upper extremity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed 28 (14 female and 14 male, mean age of 29±20 years) patients reconstructed with an FVF in the upper extremity following tumor resection. Reconstruction most commonly involved the humerus (n=17, 61%) and a malignant (n=23, 82%) tumor. RESULTS: The limb salvage rate was 93% (n=26), with primary union occurring in 71% (n=20) of patients. Following bone grafting the overall union was 96% (n=27) at a mean 13±11 months. At most recent follow-up the mean MSTS93 rating was 82±22%. CONCLUSION: FVF effectively provided a functional reconstruction following tumor resection. Although, one in four patients will need additional bone grafting, the overall union rate is high.","journal":"Anticancer Research","year":2020,"id":75506,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":24,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9067,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2020-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":396095,"name":"Matthew B. Shirley","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":394588,"name":"Karim Bakri","orcid":"0000-0002-8860-9798","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":394589,"name":"Peter S. Rose","orcid":"0000-0001-7705-3432","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":394590,"name":"Steven L. Moran","orcid":"0000-0002-3125-7621","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":385532,"name":"Matthew T. Houdek","orcid":"0000-0003-0390-1018","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":396094,"name":"MATTHEW R. CLAXTON","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":32,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T21:46:55.856612Z","pmid":"32366420","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}