Intraoral morbidity following free buccal mucosal graft harvesting for urethroplasty

Buccal mucosa is the preferred donor tissue for urethroplasty in many cases. This study documents donor site morbidity associated with this technique in 12 patients. Nine patients had a transiently decreased parotid salivary flow for 1 week, and one patient reported transient nerve involvement (long buccal nerve). Intraincisal opening returned to presurgical values within 6 weeks and in some cases exceeded presurgical values. This appears to be a low morbidity technique with high patient acceptance.