Comparison of Clinical Outcome of Facial Artery Myomucosal Flap and Tongue Flap for Closure of Large Anterior Palatal Fistulas

Buccal Fat Pad in Primary and Secondary Cleft Palate Repair: A Systematic Review of the Literature

OBJECTIVE

To review the evidence supporting the use of buccal fat pad (BFP) in primary and secondary cleft palate repair and its short- and long- term clinical outcomes.

DESIGN

Systematic review conducted by 2 independent reviewers following PRISMA guidelines.

SETTING: NONE PARTICIPANTS

Articles were identified from three databases (Pubmed/Medline, Embase and Web of Science). Search terms included "cleft palate", "palatoplasty", "palate repair", "buccal fat pad".

INTERVENTIONS

Use of BFP in primary and secondary cleft palatoplasty.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Primary outcomes were immediate postoperative complications, postoperative fistula, and maxillary growth. Secondary outcomes were palatal length, speech, and donor site morbidity.

RESULTS

Ninety-one reports were retrieved after excluding duplicates. Twenty-three studies were included (13 case series and 10 comparative studies). Overall level of evidence was low. Randomized and non-randomized studies had a high risk of bias. In primary palatoplasty, BFP was more frequently used filling lateral relaxing incisions(57.4%), or in the hard-soft palate junction and covering mucosal defects(30.1%). In these patients, post operative fistula incidence was 2.8%. Two studies found wider transverse maxillary dimensions after BFP use. No higher incidence of bleeding, infection, dehiscence, or flap necrosis was reported. In secondary palatoplasty, no recurrent fistulas were reported for patients undergoing BFP for fistula repair.

CONCLUSIONS

BFP appears to be associated with a favorable impact in fistula prevention and management, as well as in transverse maxillary growth. However, there is a high heterogeneity among studies, high risk of bias and overall low quality of evidence. More high-quality research with long-term follow-up is warranted.

The use of surgical template for palatal fistula repair in cleft palate using tongue flap: 3 case report

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE

The occurrence of a palatal fistula after surgical correction in a cleft palate patient is the most common complication in cleft palate surgery. This condition might be due to poor tissue quality and vascularity, an error in the surgical technique, the size of the defect, the age of the patient, and infection.

CASE PRESENTATION

Three patients with fistula in the anterior and mid-palate regions asked for correction. In past history, all cases had received multiple surgical corrections, and the result showed with recurrent fistula.

DISCUSSION

Surgical interventions for correction of palatal fistula might be difficult as the surrounding tissue has lost its quality, especially in secondary surgery or after multiple surgical interventions. Flap taken from the tongue can be chosen as an alternative source to close the fistula based on the consideration that the tongue has a favourable position, and located as the nearest tissue directly opposite to the palatal region, and has good vascularity. The aim of this report is to show the advantages of the use a surgical template made from alumina foil to measure the size and shape of the flap in accordance with the form and size of existed fistula. The surgical template was used as a guidance during drawn the design of the flap on the surface of the tongue.

CONCLUSION

The use of surgical templates was very useful as guidance during the marking procedure on the surface of the tongue for designing an individual tongue flap form.

Facial Reconstruction Using Facial Artery Myomucosal Flap: A Comprehensive Review

The facial artery myomucosal (FAMM) flap is a type of facial flap that is constructed with the buccal mucosa and submucosa along with a portion of the buccinator muscle, which is connected to nearby blood vessels to maintain its blood supply. It is a versatile and reliable option for head and neck reconstruction, particularly in oral cavity defects. This flap is employed in the reconstruction of the floor of the mouth, alveolar cleft surgery, and tongue defect repair. Previous studies have discussed the use of FAMM flaps for facial reconstructions. However, there are no current and updated comprehensive reviews discussing the use of FAMM flaps in facial reconstruction. In light of this, this study aimed to review all relevant studies that discuss the use of FAMM flaps in facial reconstruction.

Free Flap Reconstruction of Recalcitrant Defects in Cleft Palate Patients

INTRODUCTION

Defects of the palate can be as a result of oronasal fistula of cleft patients and the ablative surgery of tumors. There are many studies about reconstruction of the defects of plate in the literature and most of them are related to tumor surgery. Despite the use of free flaps in cleft patients being not a new approach, the articles in the literature are very few. The authors describe the experience of oronasal fistula reconstructions with free flaps with a new modification of tensionless inset of the free flap's pedicle.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Between 2019 and 2022, 2 males and 1 female, 3 consecutive cleft patients underwent free flap surgery because of recalcitrant palatal defects. One patient had 5 and each of remain had 3 unsuccessful reconstructive attempts previously. The age of patients was ranged from 20 to 23 years old. Radial forearm flap was the option of oral lining reconstruction for all patients. In 2 patients, the flap was modified as a skin tail was linked to the flap for covering the pedicle as tensionless closure.

RESULTS

There was a mucosal swelling in first patient who underwent classical pedicle inset as mucosal tunneling. In 1 patient there was a spontaneous bleeding from the anterior side of the flap and it stopped without medical interventions, spontaneously. There was no additional complication. All flaps survived without anastomosis problems.

CONCLUSION

Incision of the mucosa rather than tunneling provides good surgical exposure and bleeding control and modified flap design may be beneficial and reliable for tensionless pedicle inset and covering.

Prevention and management of oronasal fistulas

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The aim of this article is to present the current opinion on the prevention and management of oronasal fistulas in cleft palate patients.

RECENT FINDINGS

Though cleft palate repair has seen numerous modifications and improvements, oronasal fistulas remain one of the most common complications of palatoplasty. There are various techniques available for preventing and managing this complication.

SUMMARY

Oronasal fistulas can be minimized by employing proper principles for palatoplasty. Once a fistula occurs, the repair technique should be appropriate for the fistula type. Oronasal fistula classifications, various repair techniques, tissue adjuncts, and biomaterials used in both the primary palate repair and oronasal fistula repair are discussed in this review.

Modified Buccal Myomucosal Flap Closure of Large Anterior Palatal Oronasal Fistulas

SUMMARY

Large oronasal palatal fistulas can be challenging to reconstruct. The authors present a modified buccal myomucosal flap repair technique and review intermediate-term outcomes. In this technique, large anterior palatal fistulas are closed in two layers. First, apposing nasal turnover flaps of vomer mucosa medially and nasal wall mucosa laterally are approximated. Second, a posteriorly based buccal flap incorporating full-thickness buccinator muscle and overlying mucosa is transposed with interposition of the flap in the retromolar trigone and lateral palate to preserve dental occlusion. Consecutive patient cases performed in low-resource settings were reviewed and outcomes reported. Among eight subjects aged 3 to 22 years, with average defect size of 2.5 cm2 (range, 0.8 to 3.5 cm2), the flap was viable in all cases and required revision or pedicle division in only two patients (25 percent); all patients showed symptom improvement. The modified buccal myomucosal flap shows promising intermediate-term results as a single-stage reconstruction suitable to a wide patient age range, low airway/anesthetic risk, reliable functional outcomes, and low comorbidity.

Management of Oronasal Fistulas in Patients With Cleft Lip and Palate

BACKGROUND

The oronasal fistula in cleft patients is one of the complications that can be found after primary surgeries due to a failure of healing of the surgical repair that causes the communication between the oral and nasal cavities. A number of procedures can be implemented to correct the fistula and it is not clear if a particular technique is the best to be recommended.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to systematically analyze the scientific evidence regarding the treatment of oronasal fistulas located in the lingual-alveolar and labial-alveolar regions in patients with cleft lip and palate who have undergone primary surgeries.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A bibliographic search of articles published until September 2018 without restricted year and language of publication, in PubMed (Medline), Scopus, Cochrane, Web of science, and BVS databases. The MeSHterms "Fistula," "Oral Fistula," and "Cleft Lip" were used, which were related to each other and with other keywords related to the subject of the review through the "OR" and "AND" operators. The quality of the publications was evaluated according to the guidelines of the Methodological Index for Nonrandomized Studies.

RESULTS

After applying the eligibility criteria, a total of 18 articles were selected for the extraction of data and qualitative analysis.

CONCLUSION

All publications analyzed in this review reported the fistula treatment at the same surgical time as the bone graft, independently of the donor area, the type of cleft treated and the patient's age at operation. There was no consensus among the studies on the best treatment type for oronasal fistulas located in the alveolar region, and further comparative studies between the existing techniques will be necessary to address this question.

A Toolbox of Surgical Techniques for Palatal Fistula Repair

OBJECTIVE

To provide an inventory of oronasal fistula repair techniques alongside expert commentary on which techniques are appropriate for each fistula type.

DESIGN

A 4-stage approach was used to develop a consensus on surgical techniques available for fistula repair: (1) in-person discussion of oronasal fistula cases among cleft surgeons, (2) development of a schema for fistula management using transcripts of the in-person case discussion, (3) evaluation of the preliminary schema via a web-based survey of additional cleft surgeons, and (4) revision of the management schema using survey responses.

PARTICIPANTS

Six cleft surgeons participated in the in-person case discussion. Eleven additional surgeons participated in the web-based survey. Participants had diverse training experiences, having completed residency and fellowship at 20 different hospitals.

RESULTS

A schema for fistula management was developed, organized by fistula location. The schema catalogues all viable approaches for each location. For fistulae involving the soft palate, the schema stresses the importance of evaluating for velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) and incorporating VPI management into fistula repair. For fistulae involving the hard palate, the schema separately enumerates the techniques available for nasal lining repair and for oral lining repair in each region. The schema also catalogues the diversity of approaches to lingual- and labioalveolar fistula, including variation in timing, orthodontic preparation, and simultaneous alveolar bone grafting.

CONCLUSIONS

This study employed consensus methods to create a comprehensive inventory of available fistula repair techniques and to identify preferential techniques among a diverse group of surgeons.

Outcomes of Surgical Management of Palatal Fistulae in Patients With Repaired Cleft Palate

BACKGROUND

The palatal fistula is an important surgical challenge within the longitudinal follow-up of patients with repaired cleft palate as the success rate of palatal fistula reconstruction by adopting several surgical techniques is variable and often unsatisfactory. The purpose of this retrospective study was to report the clinical outcomes of an algorithm for the surgical management of palatal fistulae in patients with repaired cleft palate.

METHODS

Consecutive patients (n = 101) with repaired cleft palate and palatal fistula-related symptoms who were treated according to a specific algorithm between 2009 and 2017 were included. Based on the anatomical location (Pittsburgh fistula types II-V), amount of scarring (minimal or severe scarred palate), and diameter of the fistula (≤5 mm or >5 mm), 1 of 3 approaches (local flaps [62.4%], buccinator myomucosal flaps [20.8%], or tongue flaps [16.8%]) was performed. For clinical outcome assessment, symptomatic and anatomical parameters (fistula-reported symptoms and residual fistula, respectively) were combined as follows: complete fistula closure with no symptoms; asymptomatic narrow fistula remained; or failure to repair the fistula ("good," "fair," or "poor" outcomes, respectively). Surgical-related complication data were also collected.

RESULTS

Most patients (91.1%) presented "good" clinical outcomes, ranging from 86.2% to 100% (86.2%, 100%, and 100% for local flaps, buccinator flaps, and tongue flaps, respectively). All (8.9%) "fair" and "poor" outcomes were observed in fistulae reconstructed by local flaps. All "poor" (5%) outcomes were observed in borderline fistulae (4-5 mm). No surgical-related complications (dehiscence, infections, or necrosis) were observed, except for an episode of bleeding after the 1st stage of tongue flap-based reconstruction (1.0%).

CONCLUSION

A high rate of fistula resolution was achieved using this algorithm for surgical management of palatal fistulae in patients with repaired cleft palate.

The tongue flap for large palatal fistulas, a success or a failure? Our 15-year experience

Large palatal fistulas after cleft palate surgery are difficult to treat using local mucoperiosteal flaps alone, particularly if multiple attempts to close the fistulas have resulted in tissue scarring. In this study, we present our 15-year surgical experience with tongue flaps for large palatal fistulas. A total of 34 patients who underwent tongue flap surgery at our institution between January 2000 and January 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. An anteriorly-based dorsal tongue flap was used for the treatment of anteriorly localized large palatal fistulas in all patients. Data including demographic characteristics of the patients, previous surgeries, localization of the fistula, time between the first and second surgery, and complications were recorded. Factors affecting the surgical success were evaluated. Of the patients, 21 were males and 13 were females with a mean age of 11.7 ± 6.9 (range: 4 to 29) years. Detachment of the tongue flap was observed in nine patients after surgery. Seven of the patients with detachment were male aged ≤6 years (p < 0.05). Resuturing the flap back to the defect did not significantly affect the results. Our study results suggest that proper patient selection and attentive and rigorous surgical technique have a critical importance in the tongue flap repair and tongue flap is not recommended for patients who are under seven years of age.

Composite Nasoseptal Flap for Palate Reconstruction

Palatal fistulae represent a pathological connection from the oral cavity through the hard or soft palate to the nasal cavity and can present a significant reconstructive dilemma. Surgical correction of palatal fistulae is often limited by prior treatment, including ablative procedures and radiotherapy, or previous reconstructive attempts. In light of these challenges, the nasoseptal flap represents an excellent adjacent source of vascularized tissue which may be suitable for palatal fistula repair with minimal donor site morbidity, low associated risks, and a short recovery period. The purpose of this study was to fully understand the potential utility of this reconstructive option, including the ability to harvest a composite flap including both septal cartilage and contralateral mucoperichondrium. In this single institution prospective study consisting of a series of 5 cadaver dissections, primary outcome measures were the anterior reach of the flap as compared to the anterior nasal spine and the size of the palatal defect that the nasoseptal flap could be used to successfully reconstruct. Composite flaps were successfully harvested in continuity with a disc of septal cartilage and contralateral mucoperichondrium, providing structural integrity to the reconstruction and the ability to anchor the flap to the native hard palate mucosa. The nasoseptal flap's maximum anterior reach was within 2.0 cm (standard deviation of 0.1 cm) from the anterior nasal spine and could reliably reconstruct palate defects of 2.5 cm or less. The nasoseptal flap provides a viable regional option for reconstructing defects of the hard palate. Prospective clinical trials are needed to investigate long-term reconstructive and functional outcomes of the composite nasoseptal flap in palatal reconstruction.

Reconstruction of Large Anterior Palatal Fistulae Using Anteriorly Based Dorsal Tongue Flaps

BACKGROUND

An anterior palatal fistula in a bilateral cleft lip and palate is a challenging clinical dilemma. The authors evaluate the feasibility and outcomes of the reconstruction of large anterior palatal fistulae using anteriorly based dorsal tongue flaps.

METHODS

Eight patients with anterior palatal fistulae after repair of a bilateral cleft lip and palate using anteriorly based dorsal tongue flaps. The defect size varied from 1.0 × 1.0 cm to 1.5 × 2.0 cm, and the tongue flap size varied from 1.5 × 3.5 cm to 2.0 × 3.5 cm.

RESULTS

All patients underwent successful reconstruction of palatal defects using anteriorly based tongue flaps, and no case of spontaneous detachment of the tongue flap occurred. The patients with palatal fistulae were followed up for 10 to 30 months, and no recurrence was encountered.

CONCLUSION

An anteriorly based dorsal tongue flap is a safe and feasible surgical technique for the closure of anterior palatal fistulae.

Nasoplatine Island Advancement Flap for Closure of Anterior Palatal Fistula in Patient With Isolated Cleft Palate

Palatal fistula is common in cleft patients. Palatal fistula repair is difficult, and there is 10% to 30% recurrence rate. Application of nasopalatine Island advancement flap for easy closure of medium size anterior palatal fistula in isolated cleft patient is demonstrated. Anatomic basis, advantages, and limitations of this new flap are explained. Nasopalatine Island advancement flap is a useful aid for easy closure of medium size anterior palatal fistula in isolated cleft patient.

Persistent symptomatic anterior oronasal fistulae in patients with Veau type III and IV clefts: A therapeutic protocol and outcomes

BACKGROUND

The anterior oronasal fistulae neighboring the alveolar cleft could persist or reappear after the alveolar reconstruction with cancellous bone grafting. The persistent symptomatic anterior oronasal fistulae need to be repaired, but surgery remains a challenge in cleft care. Surprisingly, this issue has rarely been reported in the literature. The purpose of this long-term study was to report a single surgeon experience with a therapeutic protocol for persistent symptomatic anterior oronasal fistula repair.

METHODS

This is a retrospective study of consecutive patients with Veau type III and IV clefts and persistent symptomatic anterior oronasal fistulae managed according to a therapeutic protocol from 1997 to 2018. Depending on fistula size, patients were treated with local flaps associated with an interpositional graft or two-stage tongue flaps (small/medium or large fistulae, respectively). The surgical outcomes were classified as "good" (complete fistula closure with no symptoms), "fair" (asymptomatic narrow fistula remained), or "poor" (failure with persistent symptoms).

RESULTS

Forty-four patients with persistent symptomatic anterior oronasal fistulae were reconstructed with local flaps associated with interpositional fascia or dermal fat grafting (52.3%) or two-stage tongue flaps (47.7%). Most of patients (93.2%) presented "good" outcomes, ranging from 87% to 100% (local and tongue flaps, respectively). Three (6.8%) patients presented symptomatic residual fistula ("poor" outcomes).

CONCLUSIONS

For the repair of persistent symptomatic anterior oronasal fistulae, this therapeutic protocol provided satisfactory outcome with low fistula recurrence rate.

Venous Thromboembolism Incidence After Craniofacial Surgery

INTRODUCTION

Current protocols for venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis after craniofacial surgery (CFS) vary widely with substantial disagreements in both indications and managements. An evidence-based approach to this issue requires the following: the incidence of postoperative VTE, comorbidities associated with coagulopathy, risk reduction after VTE prophylaxis, and complications attributable to prophylaxis. This study addresses the first two.

DESIGN

Retrospective cross-sectional study.

METHODS

Discharge data from 64,170 patients undergoing CFS between 2008 and 2013 extracted from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample were analyzed. The outcome measures extracted were: deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, demographic data, common comorbidities, length of stay, total cost, and discharge outcome.

RESULTS

Diagnoses of deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism, collectively classified as VTE, were observed in 355 (0.55%) of 64,170 patients discharged after CFS. Other surgeries exhibited a VTE rate of 1.17%. Men exhibited nearly double the incidence of VTE relative to women (0.69% compared with 0.37% respectively, P < 0.001), and the risk factors of adulthood, advanced age, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and malignancy were associated with increased VTE incidence with odds ratios of 9.93, 3.66, 1.80, 2.02, and 2.02, respectively (P < 0.005). Tobacco use did not exhibit any significant association (odds ratio, 0.94; P = 0.679). Afflicted patients experienced 4.60 times longer hospital stays averaging 23.8 days (95% confidence interval, 21.4-26.2; P < 0.001) compared the average of 5.2 days experienced by CFS patients without VTE. They incurred an average cost of US $298,228 (95% confidence interval, 262,726 to 333,731; P < 0.001) which was 4.17 times the US $72,376 expense of treating other CFS patients. The likelihood for a CFS patient to experience a poor outcome at the time of discharge was 54.6% higher after VTE.

CONCLUSIONS

The risk of postoperative VTE after CFS is significantly increased in adults, patients with advanced age, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and malignancy. However even in those high-risk cases, postoperative VTE incidence remains relatively low after CFS. These findings in conjunction with further study regarding the risk associated with the addition of VTE chemoprophylaxis compared against mechanical VTE prophylaxis, such as sequential pneumatic compression stockings, may determine whether routine use of VTE chemoprophylaxis is appropriate.

A Straightforward Technique to Repair a Residual Oronasal Fistula in Bilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Patients

PURPOSE

An anterior palatal oronasal fistula in a bilateral cleft lip and palate is a challenging clinical dilemma. The purpose of this article is to present a 2-stage technique to repair the fistula in consistent fashion. The technique was developed to avoid more complicated procedures that had greater morbidity for larger oronasal defects that could not be treated in a single procedure.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This is a retrospective study performed over 15 years using this technique in a private practice setting. From 2002 to 2017, 15 7- to 12-year-old patients (11 boys and 4 girls) were treated. They were seen in a multispecialty clinic for anterior residual fistulae, and impressions were obtained. Then, they were scheduled for first-stage closing of the fistulae. Data were retrospectively analyzed. The first stage started with closing the central portion of the fistulae. For the second stage 6 months later, the residual nasoalveolar cleft was closed and grafted in standard fashion. The first stage involved posteriorly reflecting a full-thickness mucoperiosteal flap and inserting it into the palatal soft tissue and stabilizing the segment with a splint for 3 weeks. The premaxillary segment was left denuded.

RESULTS

Fourteen of 15 patients (93%) had the central portion of the oronasal fistulae successfully closed. One patient had partial breakdown when the splint was prematurely removed at 2 weeks. The patient underwent successful closure by the same procedure at a later date. All patients had successful second-stage grafting of their nasoalveolar clefts.

CONCLUSIONS

An alternative technique is presented to treat clinically challenging oronasal fistulae. This 2-stage closure of a palatal fistula is straightforward, allows consistent closure of soft tissue defects, and avoids complex alternative procedures with serious surgical morbidities.

[Effect of facial artery musculo-mucosal flap in reconstructing defects of tongue and mouth floor]

Objective

To explore the effect of facial artery musculo-mucosal (FAMM) flap to reconstruct tongue and floor of mouth defects.

Methods

Between January 2011 and January 2016, 24 cases of tongue and floor of mouth defects were repaired with FAMM flap after tumor resection. There were 16 males and 8 females, aged from 38 to 70 years with an average of 55 years. The disease duration was from 1 week to 6 months with an average of 4 months. The defect located at the floor of mouth in 4 cases, at the tongue in 15 cases, and both tongue and floor of mouth in 5 cases. There were 2 cases of carcinoma at the floor of mouth, 2 cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma at the floor of mouth, 14 cases of carcinoma at the tongue, 1 case of adenoid cystic carcinoma at the tongue, and 5 cases of carcinoma at the tongue and floor of mouth. The size of defect ranged from 4 cm×3 cm to 8 cm×7 cm. Three ipsilateral and 21 contralateral FAMM flaps were harvested (5 cases were repaired with FAMM flap and submental muscle island flap due to the large defect area). The size of FAMM flap ranged from 5 cm×4 cm to 5 cm×5 cm, the size of submental muscle island flap ranged from 4 cm×3 cm to 5 cm×4 cm.

Results

All flaps survived after operation, without local necrosis. Wound dehiscence at donor site occurred in 5 cases, and healed after cleaning; primary healing was obtained in the other 19 cases. All the patients were followed up 8 months to 5 years with an average of 2 years and 4 months. No obvious facial deformity or fistula of the floor of mouth occurred after operation. Injury of the submandibular branch of the facial nerve was observed in 16 patients, who returned to normal at 3 months. All 24 patients had limitation of mouth opening after operation, which disappeared after 12 months. The functions of speech, chewing, and swallowing were normal.

Conclusion

FAMM flap has many advantages of simple operation, good repair, high flap survival rate, and less injury at donor site for repairing tongue and floor of mouth defects.