Submental Flap as a Reconstructive Option for Reconstruction in Oral Cancer

Abstract

Objective: To demonstrate the advantages and oncological safety of the submental flap.
 Study Design: Case series.
 Place and Duration of Study: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Study, Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi, Multan and Peshawar Pakistan, from Jul 2014 to May 2020.
 Methodology: Twenty patients underwent flap reconstruction with a submental flap. The patients were diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma and verrucous carcinoma at different sites of the head and neck. Only patients with no cervical lymph node metastasis were included.
 Results: We operated a total of 20 patients, out of which 11 (55%) were male and 9 (45%) were female. The mean age was 62.75 years (range: 47-80 years). Thirteen (65%) patients were diagnosed with Squamous cell carcinoma, 5 (25%) with Basal cell carcinoma and 2 (10%) were diagnosed with Verrucous carcinoma on histopathology. Two (10%) patients reported back with regional recurrence and were given postoperative radiotherapy. One (5%) patient had complete flap loss while 2 (10%) had distal tip necrosis.
 Conclusion: In carefully selected cases submental flap is a viable option, without the risk of occult metastasis.

Repair defects after endoscopic debridement of head and neck cancer carcinoma with prior irradiation of submental flaps

“…Since Martin et al introduced SF [10], it has a broad rotation arc and may reach defects in the upper airway [13], the oral cavity [14], oropharynx [15], nasopharynx[16], and skull base [4] et al Previous research[8, 17,18] has demonstrated that the application of SF for head and neck reconstruction has several bene ts, such as being simple to harvest during the same surgical procedure, having exible rotation and being close to sites of head and neck defects, resulting in less trauma and complications, a good quality of life following surgery, requiring less time and money than free tissue transfer without signi cantly affecting functional outcomes or complication rates, and having donor site scarring that can be easily hidden behind the mandible with good aesthetic effect.…”