Reconstruction with submental flap for aggressive orofacial cancer- an updated series

Purpose: Submental flap is gaining popularity for head and neck reconstruction. We have reported in 2007 our early experience of using submental flap for aggressive orofacial malignancy. Novel flap design and application is described in this updated series. Materials and Methods: 15 patients who had received submental flap reconstruction after extirpation of newly diagnosed aggressive orofacial lesions were retrieved. The details of the flap harvest was studied for flap size, inclusion of mylohyoid muscle, antegrade versus retrograde blood supply, and compared with our previous series. Results: The dimension of flap skin paddle was 30cm(2) (range 20-72). Retrograde pedicle flow was used in 2(13.3%) patients. Mylohyoid muscle was included in the flap in 6(40%) patients. There was no total flap necrosis while partial flap necrosis occurred in 1 patient(6.7%). There was a significant increase of inclusion of mylohyoid muscle to the flap in this series (p = 0.02). Novel techniques including double-paddled flap skin to resurface full-thickness defect and chimeric osteocutaneous mandible submental flap for maxillary defect were successfully performed. Conclusions: Submental flap is a viable reconstructive option in selected patients with aggressive orofacial malignancy. The indications are expanding and its technical modification is evolving and resulting in more innovative applications.