[CLINICAL APPLICATION OF NASOLABIAL ISLAND PEDICLED FLAP FOR REPAIRING MOUTH FLOOR DEFECTS].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effectiveness of nasolabial island pedicled flap in repairing mouth floor defects.

METHODS

Between July 2010 and July 2013, 13 cases of mouth floor defects were repaired with nasolabial island pedicled flap. There were 7 males and 6 females, aged 36-73 years (mean, 58 years). Defects were caused by lesion resection, including 4 cases of leukoplakias, 2 cases of erythema, 1 case of mucoepidermoid carcinoma, 2 cases of the month floor cancer, and 4 cases of tongue cancer. The locations of defects were the mouth floor in 5 cases, the mouth floor and tongue body in 6 cases, and the mouth floor and gingival in 2 cases; the mucosa and submucosa were involved in 6 cases, and the sublingual gland, tongue muscle or alveolar process in 7 cases. The size of defect was 1-4 cm. The size of the flaps ranged from 4.5 cm x 2.0 cm to 6.5 cm x 3.5 cm.

RESULTS

The operation was successfully performed in all patients; the flaps survived; and the primary healing of incisions at donor site and recipient site were obtained. Thirteen patients were followed up 5-24 months (mean, 11 months). No tumor recurrence was observed; the patients had normal functions of eating, swallowing, and speech. The facial appearance was satisfactory. No obvious deformity was observed at donor sites.

CONCLUSION

The nasolabial island pedicled flap is fit for repairing small or middle sized defects of the mouth floor, and it has the advantages of flexible flap transplantation, less injury at donor site, easy operation, and high flap survival rate.