title: The design of tongue flaps for the closure of palatal fistulas.
abstract: This paper presents the author's experience with thin (3-mm) tongue flaps used to close large anterior palatal fistulas. This technique was used successfully in 12 patients with fistulas following surgery for cleft palate. One forked flap and one mushroom-shaped flap that were used to close irregularly shaped fistulas are described. All flaps survived, and there was a partial recurrence of one fistula in only one patient. The results of this series confirm that the thin tongue flap is a safe and reliable technique for the closure of large palatal fistulas even when tailored to fit irregularly shaped defects.
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Reabilitaçao de Bauru, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Assunçao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005402:Fistula / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D010159:Palate / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000379:methods*; D014059:Tongue / Q000601:surgery