Effectiveness and safety of immediate application of negative pressure wound therapy in head and neck free flap reconstruction: a systematic review.

To our knowledge this is the first systematic review of the immediate application of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) to the head and neck in free flap reconstruction. We conducted a systematic search of the PubMed and Cochrane databases in October 2021 using the MeSH terms 'negative pressure wound therapy', 'free flaps', 'microsurgery', and 'vacuum-assisted closure'. Included studies evaluated the use of immediate NPWT in head and neck free flap reconstruction.