Submental island flap reconstruction of large and complex oral commissure defects

Abstract

Background Oral commissure squamous cell carcinoma frequently presents at advanced stage and surgical treatment will eventually result in large and complex lip, buccal, and facial skin defects. Reconstruction of such defects is a challenge. The authors hereby present the experience with the reconstruction of large and complex postexcisional defects of the oral commissure with submental island flap. Patients and methods Eighteen patients with stage IVA squamous cell carcinoma of the oral commissure were enrolled. For all patients wide surgical excision of the primary tumor with supraomohyoid neck dissection followed by immediate reconstruction of the resultant defect with submental island flap was done. During the follow-up period, surgical and oncologic outcomes were reported; and functional and aesthetic outcomes were evaluated using the Functional Lip Glasgow Scale score. Results Male predominates and the mean operative time was about 197 min. Surgical complications were unremarkable. Functional Lip Glasgow Scale score ranged from 18 to 25. Recurrence occurred in three cases. Conclusion Submental flap is a feasible reproducible reconstructive technique for oral commissure tumors surgery with satisfactory functional and aesthetic outcomes.