A Technical Modification of the Submental Flap for Reconstruction of Verrucous Lesions of the Oral Cavity

Abstract

The submental flap has been a reliable and versatile flap for head and neck reconstruction. It was first described by Martin in 1993 [1]. Over the past two decades, the flap has been extensively used for reconstruction of skin and soft tissue defects in head and neck oncology. The increasing popularity of the flap was a bit tempered following concerns about the compromised oncological safety while harvesting the flap. There are however no so such concerns when the submental flap is used in the management of verrucous lesions of the oral cavity following a per-oral excision. The use of the submental flap for this common problem in the Indian sub continent has not been addressed in literature. We share our experience of a technical modification of the traditional submental islanded flap for reconstruction of verrucous lesions of the oral cavity following ablative surgery.