Muscle-only intra-oral mucosal defect reconstruction

Reconstructive requirements of medium to large sized oral mucosal defects following oncological resection include restoration of mucosal continuity with prevention of salivary leak and fistula formation, predictable soft tissue healing, and ensuring optimal oral function and cosmetic restoration. Such defects frequently mandate the use of microvascular free tissue transfer of fasciocutaneous flaps such as the radial forearm or anterolateral thigh flaps, or, for larger defects incorporating significant dead-space, muscle flaps such as rectus abdominis or latissimus dorsi. Commonly described techniques for re-establishing continuity of the epithelial component include using native mucosa, split skin graft, or a myocutaneous flap skin paddle. Few case series reports exist of non-epithelial reconstructive approaches. Here, the authors report a large series of muscle only flaps for oral defect reconstruction following oncologic resection. The current study demonstrates that mucosalised muscle is an effective additional method for intra-oral mucosal defect reconstruction.