Functional considerations between flap and non-flap reconstruction in oral tongue cancer: A systematic review. Oral Oncol 2023 Dec;147:106596
Date
10/16/2023Pubmed ID
37839153DOI
10.1016/j.oraloncology.2023.106596Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85173998840 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)Abstract
This systematic review aims to provide insight into the ideal reconstructive approach of the oral tongue in oral tongue cancer (OTC) by investigating the relationship between functional outcomes and the extent of tongue resection. A structured search was performed in Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Studies comparing patient-reported and objective measurements of the oral tongue function between flap vs. non-flap reconstruction were included. Functional outcomes of interest were speech production, deglutition efficiency, tongue mobility, overall quality of life, and postoperative complications. A total of nine studies were retrieved and critically appraised. Patients with 20 % or less of oral tongue resected had superior swallowing efficiency and speech intelligibility with a non-flap reconstruction while patients with a tongue defect of 40-50 % self-reported or demonstrated better swallowing function with a flap repair. The data in intermediate tongue defects (20-40 % tongue resected) was inconclusive, with several studies reporting comparable functional outcomes between approaches. A longitudinal multi-institutional prospective study that rigidly controls the extent of tongue resected and subsites involved is needed to determine the percentage of tongue resected at which a flap reconstruction yields a superior functional result in OTC.
Author List
Cortina LE, Moverman DJ, Zhao Y, Goss D, Zenga J, Puram SV, Varvares MAAuthor
Joseph Zenga MD Assistant Professor in the Otolaryngology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
DeglutitionGlossectomy
Humans
Prospective Studies
Quality of Life
Speech Intelligibility
Tongue
Tongue Neoplasms
