title: Technique for closure of the floor of the mouth in monobloc resection.
abstract: Closure of the floor of the mouth after resection with or without partial mandibulectomy is often unsatisfactory. The wound may fail to heal per primum and transient orocutaneous fistulas are not uncommon. A technique of closure of the floor of the mouth, based on a series of 68 patients treated by monobloc or "three-dimensional" resection, uses the hyoglossal muscle as a new muscular sling to close the surgical defect. The overlying hypoglossal nerve is mobilized in a neuromuscular transplant that preserves tongue function and speech. Such a procedure facilitates the successful surgical management of stages I and II carcinomas of the floor of the mouth.
mesh_terms: D005152:Facial Muscles / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008334:Mandible / Q000601:surgery; D008722:Methods; D009060:Mouth Floor / Q000601:surgery*; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*