Free flaps have had a very important role in the ablative head and neck surgery with functional preservation of defect sites, with no relation to site and size of defect. Twenty four cases of free flaps for reconstruction after resection of head and neck cancers performed at the Department of the Otolaryngology of Kyungpook National University Hospital from January 1986 to December 1991 has been reviewed. There were 19 forearm free flaps, 4 osteocutaneous free flaps and one jejunal free flap. Primary sites of the head and neck cancers were hypopharynx in 8 cases, oral cavity in 10 cases, larynx in 2 cases, cervical esophagus in 2 cases, thyroid and maxillary sinus in one of each. Post-operative complications were flap necrosis, hematoma, bleeding and fistula. The longer the operation procedure, the higher the rate of complication. The frequency of complication showed the trend of decrease in recent years. Complications were developed mostly between the 3rd and 9th day post-operatively. It is concluded as the operative performance depends on the duration of operation and skill of the head and neck cancer surgeon and has no relation to primary sites and defect size.