Angular artery cutaneous flap for reconstruction of difficult oronasal fistulas

Oronasal fistulas after oromaxillary surgery may sometimes be encountered and remain a challenging problem. They can cause significant disabilities such as phonetic problems and food or liquid regurgitation while swallowing. A few methods are reported to solve this problem, including using a dental appliance, local tissue rotation, or even free-tissue transfer.

An angular artery cutaneous flap was designed to repair the defect. The flap that included the skin and superficial fascia fed by the flow of angular artery was rotated through the buccal mucosa into the oral cavity to cover the palate defect.

Two oronasal fistula cases were reported in this series. Case 1: A 71-year-old man had hard palate cancer and had received wide excision in our hospital 2 years previously. He had received adjuvant radiotherapy (28 times) and was transferred to the plastic surgery department for dealing with oronasal fistula. The palate defect was 2 × 2 cm. Case 2: A 72-year-old woman was a patient with left palate mucoepidermoid carcinoma. She had received an operation and adjuvant radiotherapy 10 years previously. For her oronasal fistula and hypernasality, she had received reconstructive operations 3 times with local rotation flap for left-side palate defect at a previous hospital. However, the local flap failed and the fistula persisted. She then approached our plastic surgery department for help. The palate defect was about 1 × 1 cm. We successfully reconstructed the oronasal fistula by using the angular artery cutaneous flap. The flap successfully sealed the oral cavity during the follow-up period.

Angular artery cutaneous flap is a good alternative for reconstruction of the oronasal fistula. Especially in elderly patients, donor-site comorbidities are fewer due to the redundant aging skin and the missing tooth.