Clinical application of free anterolateral thigh flap in the reconstruction of intraoral defects

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical features and therapeutic efficacy of the intraoral defects reconstruction with 3 types of anterolateral thigh flaps. The clinicopathologic data of 39 cases with oral tumors were obtained from the School of Stomatology, Nanjing University Medical Center, from December 2008 to June 2010. These patients underwent the simultaneous tumor resection and intraoral defects reconstruction with free anterolateral thigh flaps. There were 22 male and 17 female patients; the ratio of male to female was 1.3:1; the mean age was 56.1 years. Twenty-two of the anterolateral thigh flaps were musculocutaneous flaps (56.4%), 8 were fasciocutaneous flaps (20.5%), and 9 were ultrathin flaps (23.1%). Five patients required operative exploration in the perioperative period. Three flaps were thrombotic events, 1 flap was hematoma, and 1 flap was twisting of perforator. After the salvages, 1 flap was partial failure, 1 flap was total failure, and the other 3 flaps were complete survival. The free anterolateral thigh flap was the ideal soft tissue flap in the intraoral defects reconstruction. This flap presents good functional results at the receiving site with the additional advantages of minimal donor-site morbidity and a high level of patient satisfaction.