Treatment of a maxillary defect following resection of carcinoma

A group of 37 oncological patients with tumours of the head and neck where extensive resection of the face, maxilla or mandible or calva was necessary, comprised five patients with a typical defect after resection of part of the maxilla including half of the palate and exenteration of the orbit. This extensive defect causes discomfort to the patient and his environment--functional i.e. impaired speech, and cosmetic. A satisfactory solution during reconstruction of the maxilla without the need of skeletal reconstruction is microsurgical transplantation of a narrow flap of the latissimus dorsi, usually with two cutaneous islands--one to close the palate and the other to close the orbit and face.