[Advancement cheek flap for nasal sidewall defects]

The nasal sidewall and adjacent cheek are frequent sites of cutaneous tumour. The aim of this study is to present an advancement-rotation cheek flap technique for nasal sidewall and paranasal cheek defects.

This is a retrospective, non-comparative study of patients undergoing a cheek advancement-rotation flap for nasal sidewall and paranasal cheek defects between September 2008 and October 2012. Sex, age, histological type of the excised lesion, method of anaesthesia, size of the defects, any occurrence of complications and results were compiled from the medical record.

Eleven patients with a mean age of 66 years were included. For 10 patients, the tumour was a basal cell carcinoma and in one case was a squamous cell carcinoma. The defects were located in the nasal sidewall and paranasal cheek in four cases, the paranasal cheek/lower eyelid in five cases and in the nasal sidewall, anterior cheek and lower eyelid in two cases. All but one had surgery under a local anaesthetic. No patients presented post-surgical complications. One patient had a subcutaneous granuloma which subsequently subsided completely. The aesthetic result was good: two of the 11 patients had a marked nasolabial fold, one patient had a mild cutaneous deformity due to flap movement under eyelid. No recurrence of carcinoma was observed during follow-up of between 14 and 40 months.

This flap should be considered for defects measuring under 3 cm on all or part of the nasal sidewall, paranasal cheek and lower eyelid fold.