Visceral flaps for oral cavity reconstruction and prevention of xerostomia in cancer patients: a case series and morphological study

Objective. To improve treatment outcomes in patients with oral cavity cancers via postoperative reconstruction using visceral flaps. Material and methods. We present clinical cases of microsurgical reconstruction of oral cavity using free gastro-omental, jejunum and colon-ic flaps after resection of malignancies. We performed biopsy of colonic mucous fragment in 10 patients and gastric mucosa in 14 patients at various times after reconstruction. Results. Visceral flaps allow restoring oral cavity with morphotypical tissue that has optimal plasticity, thickness and adaptation to the edg-es of defect. These flaps do not cause sensations of a foreign body, changes in taste and do not require pre-prosthetic preparation. Intestine and gastric fragments release a secret providing additional moisture to the oral cavity and preventing xerostomia after radiotherapy. Histologi-cal analysis of colon and gastric fragments revealed that transplantation into environment of oral cavity with another enzymatic and acid-base composition leads to moderate atrophy without obvious inflammatory infiltration of mucosal base or severe dysplasia. Conclusion. Autotransplantation of visceral tissues allows restoring oral mucosa by similar morphological tissue and improving the results of social and functional rehabilitation of patients with oral cavity tumors. © 2023, Media Sphera Publishing Group. All rights reserved.