title: [Reverse facial artery-submental artery island myocutaneous flap for reconstruction of oral and maxillofacial defects following cancer ablation].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the reliability of the reverse facial artery-submental artery island myocutaneous flap for repairing the oral and maxillofacial defects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighteen oral and maxillofacial defects were repaired with reverse facial artery-submental artery island myocutaneous flaps following resection of malignant tumors. The ages of the patients ranged from 28 to 90 years; 11 were male and 7 were female. Primary sites of the lesions were the tongue squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (7 cases), buccal mucosa SCC (4 cases), palate SCC (3 cases), oropharyngeal SCC (2 case), and facial skin basal cell carcinoma (2 cases). The sizes of skin paddle varied from a minimum of 4.0 cm x 12.0 cm to a maximum of 5.0 cm x 15.0 cm. The followed-up period was 9 to 18 months (11.8 months on average).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The postoperative outcome for the flaps was 17 cases surviving, one complete necrosis, and one temporary palsy of the marginal mandibular branch of the facial nerve. The form and function of recipient sites were well recovered. The donor site left a well-hidden scar. One case of cervical lymph node metastasis was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Reverse facial artery-submental artery island myocutaneous flap is reliable for reconstructing medium-sized oral and maxillofacial defects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China. drchen@vip.163.com
authors.forename: Wei-liang
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhao-hui
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Zhi-quan
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: You-yuan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yong-jie
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jin-song
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005153:Facial Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D016896:Treatment Outcome