Preoperative planning for free-tissue transfer.

Preoperative planning is of paramount importance in the surgical teaching of free-tissue transfer. Preoperative planning begins with the initial patient evaluation and continues to the point of successful free-tissue transfer. A detailed preoperative plan allows even the neophyte microsurgeon to anticipate operative difficulties before they occur, and to have contingency plans for nearly all intraoperative scenarios. Copyright 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.