Reconstruction of oral cancer patients

Yoo,  Sang-Il; Ahn,  Kang-Min

J Korean Dent Assoc > Volume 48(8); 2010 > Article

The Journal of The Korean Dental Association 2010;48(8):607-614.
Published online August 31, 2010.

구강암 환자의 재건술

유상일¹, 안강민²

^¹울산대학교 의과대학 서울아산병원 구강악안면외과
^²울산대학교 의과대학 서울아산병원 구강악안면외과

Reconstruction of oral cancer patients

Sang-Il Yoo¹, Kang-Min Ahn²

¹Department of oral and maxillofacial surgery, college of medicine, university of Ulsan, Seoul Asan medical center
²Department of oral and maxillofacial surgery, college of medicine, university of Ulsan, Seoul Asan medical center

Abstract

Reconstruction after ablative oral cancer surgery is challenging mission. Soft tissue and hard tissue could be resected in case of advanced oral cancer. The final goal of oral reconstruction is to gain normal swallowing, chewing and speech. Nowadays, free flap reconstruction after oral cancer resection is more popular than pedicled flap. Microsurgical reconstruction with free flap could be used effectively in complicated cases of oral cavity defect. However, complications could be happened. So not only meticulous preoperative study about the extent of defects but also the donor site dressing after surgery were performed to prevent postoperative complication. The most favorite free flap for soft tissue reconstruction is radial forearm flap. It has a lot of advantages such as pliable, hairless, reliable vessels, appropriate diameter of radial artery and diverse flap design. And the most popular free flap for jaw reconstruction is free fibular flap. In this article, we report the classification of flap for reconstruction and reveal the pits and falls of radial forearm free flap and free fibular flap.

Key Words: Oral cancer;free flap;radial forearm free flap;free fibular flap;reconstruction;