Objective To investigate cl inical effect and prognosis of the modified sternocleidomastoid (MSCM) myocutaneous flap for reconstruction of tissue defects in patients with oral carcinomas undergoing tumorectomy. Methods From April 2001 to January 2007, 43 patients with large or medium-sized tissue defects because of oral carcinomas radical operation were treated with MSCM myocutaneous flap. There were 31 males and 12 females with an average age of 58.5 years(25-76 years). The disease course was 25 days to 14 months (4.5 months on average). There were 27 cases of well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (SC), 14 cases of poorly-differentiated SC, 1 case of rhabdomyosarcoma, and 1 case of adenoid cystic carcinoma. Affected locations were tongue in 25 cases, mouth floor in 11 cases, lower gingiva in 4 cases, and buccal mucous membranes in 3 cases. According to 2002 International Union Control Cancer criterion for cl inical stage, there were 3 cases of stage I, 13 cases of stage II, 7 cases of stage III, and 20 cases of stage IV. Both the ranges of soft tissue defects and the flap were from 4 cm × 3 cm to 8 cm × 6 cm. The vital ity of the flaps and the heal ing of wounds were observed postoperatively. The function restoration of deglutition and dehisce were observed during the follow-up period. Results Necrosis of quarter MSCM myocutaneous flap occurred in 3 cases 1 week after operation, wounds healed by secondary intention after dressing; other flaps were survival. Infection with fluidify occurred at the donor site of 2 cases, wounds healed by incision and drainage; other incision at the donor sites healed primarily. No arterial or venous crisis occurred in all 43 flaps after 48 hours of operation. Thirty-nine patients were followed up for 6 months to 6 years. The 3 patients with buccal carcinoma could open their mouths normally. The function of deglutition and pronunciation were recovered in 24 patients with tongue carcinoma. Only 3 patients needed to have soft diet after operation. In 26 patients who were followed up above 2 years, oral metaplasia of the the skin flaps epithel ium was observed. Four patients and 2 patients recurred and died after 6 months and 1 year of operation, respectively.Two patients received the second operation after 6 months because of the metastatic lymph node, and survived up to now. The 2-year survival rate was 85%. Conclusion MSCM myocutaneous flap is simple to perform and effective in reconstruction of tissue defects for patients with oral carcinomas. It has active effect to recover the function of oral and axillofacial region and elevate l iving qual ity of patients.
Objective To investigate the clinical effect ofthe pectoralis major myocutaneous flap and Ti-plate system in repairing mandibular defects caused by resection of oral carcinoma.Methods From November 2001 to February 2003, 32patients with mandibular defect caused by resection of oral carcinoma were treated. Combined radical neck dissection with resection of gingival and mandible was performed on 11 patients with carcinoma of the lower gingival, combined radical neck dissection with glossectomy and mandibulectory on 13 patients with carcinoma of tongue, combined radical neck dissection with resection of floor of mouthand mandible on 4 patients with carcinoma of floor of mouth, and combined radical neck dissection with resection of cheek and mandible on 4 patients with carcinoma of buccal mucosa, respectively. The defects of mandible were associated with soft-tissue component, the sizes of defect ranged from 5.5 cm×7.6 cm to 8.2 cm×10.5 cm. The defects were reconstructed with 6 cm×7 cm to 9 cm×10 cm pectoralis major myocutaneous flaps and Tiplate system. The effect was studied retrospectively. Results Thirty-two cases were followed for 219 months; 29 cases offlaps survived and 3 cases of flaps partly necrosed (10% or less of the skin paddle). The appearance of face was satisfactory in 27 patients, and slight deformity of face was observed in 5 patients. The occluding relation and masticatory function were recovered well. Opening mouth extents ranged from 2.7 cm to 3.4 cm. No temporomandibular arthrosis relating to operation was found in all cases. Conclusion A combination of thhe pectoralis major myocut aneous flap and Ti-plate system is an ideal method for reconstruction of mandible defects associated with soft-tissue component after radical operation of oral carcinoma.
Objective To evaluate the reliability and effectiveness of a deep circumflex iliac artery based iliac-internal oblique musculofascial chimeric flap (DCIA-IIOF) in reconstruction of complex oromandibular defect. Methods Between January 2010 and December 2015, DCIA-IIOFs were used to repair complex oromandibular defects in 11 patients. There were 8 males and 3 females, with an age of 27-75 years (median, 56 years). Original disease was lower gingival squamous cell carcinoma in 7 cases (T3N1M0 in 2 cases, T3N2M0 in 1 case, T4N0M0 in 2 cases, and T4N2M0 in 2 cases), osteoradionecrosis after radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma in 2 cases, central mandibular squamous cell carcinoma in 1 case (T4N0M0), and mandibular malignant fibrous histiocytoma in 1 case. The length of mandibular bone defects ranged from 7 to 10 cm (mean, 8 cm), and the area of the mucosal defects ranged from 5 cm×3 cm to 7 cm×4 cm. Preoperative ultrasonic identification of the DCIA and its ascending branch was routinely performed. The DCIA-IIOF was harvested by using an anterograde dissection technique, of which the iliac island was used for segmental mandibular defect repair and the musculofascial island for soft tissue and mucosal defect repair. Results All 11 cases were followed up 15-75 months (median, 37 months). All flaps survived after operation, without necrosis of both iliac island and oblique internal musculofascial island. One patient had a mild submandibular infection which healed after wound drainage and intravenous antibiotics. At 1 month after operation, the color and texture of the musculofascial island were similar to oral mucosa without contracture, and the occluding relation was good for all patients. At 6 months after operation, the mouth opening hardly improved in 2 patients who had osteoradionecrosis; 1 patient who underwent postoperative radiotherapy had restriction of mouth opening; the remaining 8 patients had normal month opening and normal diet. Three patients died of cancer recurrence, 2 patients died of other diseases (encephalorrhagia in 1 case and myocardial infarction in 1 case), and the others survived without recurrence during follow-up. No patient developed abdominal hernia during follow-up. Conclusion DCIA-IIOF is a reliable flap in reconstruction of complex oromandibular defects. The occluding relation after operation is good and the mucosal lining is soft. This technique provides an effective option for moderate complex oromandibular defects repair.
ObjectiveTo summarize the combination methods and optimization strategies of the harvest procedure of anterolateral thigh chimeric perforator myocutaneous flap. MethodsA clinical data of 359 cases of oral cancer admitted between June 2015 and December 2021 was retrospectively analyzed. There were 338 males and 21 females with an average age of 35.7 years (range, 28-59 years). There were 161 cases of tongue cancer, 132 cases of gingival cancer, and 66 cases of buccal and oral cancer. According to the Union International Center of Cancer (UICC) TNM staging, there were 137 cases of T4N0M0, 166 cases of T4N1M0, 43 cases of T3N1M0, 13 cases of T3N2M0. The disease duration was 1-12 months (mean, 6.3 months). The soft tissue defects in size of 5.0 cm×4.0 cm to 10.0 cm×7.5 cm remained after radical resection were repaired with the free anterolateral thigh chimeric perforator myocutaneous flaps. The process of harvesting the myocutaneous flap was mainly divided into 4 steps. Step 1: exposing and separating the perforator vessels, which mainly came from the oblique branch and the lateral branch of the descending branch. Step 2: isolating the main trunk of the perforator vessel pedicle and determining the origin of the vascular pedicle of muscle flap, which was came from oblique branch, lateral branch of the descending branch, or medial branch of the descending branch. Step 3: determining the source of muscle flap, including lateral thigh muscle and rectus femoris muscle. Step 4: determining the harvest form of muscle flap, which included muscle branch type, main trunk distal type, and main trunk lateral type. Results The 359 free anterolateral thigh chimeric perforator myocutaneous flaps were harvested. In all cases, the anterolateral femoral perforator vessels existed. The perforator vascular pedicle of the flap came from the oblique branch in 127 cases and the lateral branch of the descending branch in 232 cases. The vascular pedicle of muscle flap originated from the oblique branch in 94 cases, the lateral branch of the descending branch in 187 cases, and the medial branch of the descending branch in 78 cases. The muscle flaps harvested from the lateral thigh muscle in 308 cases and the rectus femoris muscle in 51 cases. The harvest forms of muscle flaps included 154 cases of muscle branch type, 78 cases of main trunk distal type, and 127 cases of main trunk lateral type. The size of skin flaps ranged from 6.0 cm×4.0 cm to 16.0 cm×8.0 cm, and the size of muscle flaps range from 5.0 cm×4.0 cm to 9.0 cm×6.0 cm. In 316 cases, the perforating artery anastomosed with the superior thyroid artery, and the accompanying vein anastomosed with the superior thyroid vein. In 43 cases, the perforating artery anastomosed with the facial artery, and the accompanying vein anastomosed with the facial vein. After operation, the hematoma occurred in 6 cases and vascular crisis in 4 cases. Among them, 7 cases were successfully saved after emergency exploration, 1 case had partial necrosis of skin flap, which was healed after conservative dressing change, and 2 cases had complete necrosis of skin flap, which was repaired by pectoralis major myocutaneous flap. All patients were followed up 10-56 months (mean, 22.5 months). The appearance of the flap was satisfactory, and the swallowing and language functions were restored satisfactorily. Only linear scar left in the donor site with no significant effect on thigh function. During follow-up, 23 patients had local tumor recurrence and 16 patients had cervical lymph node metastasis. The 3-year survival rate was 38.2% (137/359). Conclusion The flexible and clear classification of the key points in the harvest process of anterolateral thigh chimeric perforator myocutaneous flap can optimize the protocol to the greatest extent, increase the safety of the operation, and reduce the difficulty of the operation.