A novel use of the facial artery based buccinator musculo-mucosal island flap for reconstruction of the oropharynx

Versatility of the facial artery myomucosal island flap in neopharyngeal reconstruction

“…In accordance with the literature, we find, in general, the submandibular FAMM island flap transposition strong and viable and we use it for selected cases of moderate‐sized ablation defects in the oral cavity in toothed patients. The use of free forearm flaps for oral reconstruction is now very rare in our setting.…”

“…Tunneled transposition of the FAMM island flap lateral to the mandible has been reported for intraoral as well as oropharyngeal reconstruction. This technique overcomes the limitations of short range and dentition and further documents the flexibility of the flap (see Figure ). A fine review of the cheek flap literature has been published recently …”

“…The versatility of the myomucosal cheek flap within oral and oropharyngeal and facial reconstruction, with or without island and tunneling modifications, has been reported consistently . The various cheek flaps have shown great applicability with only minor complications, in particular in the covering of medium‐sized substance loss in the floor of the mouth or exposure of the mandible.…”

Reconstruction of Soft Tissue Defects with Regional Flaps

“…Partial necrosis of the skin paddle is quite common. As mentioned above, this complication can be reduced if the fl ap is harvested as a perforator fl ap [ 41 ].…”

“…When it is attached inferiorly, it can be used to reconstruct the fl oor of the mouth, lateral border of the tongue [ 66 ], mandibular vestibule [ 67 ], tonsillar fossa, and lower lip [ 68 ]. The island fl ap described by Zhao et al [ 39 ] makes it possible to reconstruct defects of the lateral wall of the pharynx and of the base of the tongue [ 41 ].…”