ObjectiveTo investigate the efficacy of anterolateral thigh (myocutaneous) flap designed with computed tomography angiography (CTA) to reconstruct oral and maxillofacial soft tissue defects.MethodsBetween January 2011 and December 2015, 23 cases of oral and maxillofacial tumors were treated. There were 14 males and 9 females with the age range from 45 to 72 years (mean, 56.8 years). There were 12 cases of tongue carcinoma, 5 cases of buccal mucosa carcinoma, 4 cases of mouth floor carcinoma, and 2 cases of oropharynx carcinoma; all were squamous cell carcinoma. According to standard TNM staging of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), 8 cases were rated as T2N0M0, 3 cases as T2N1M0, 1 case as T2N2M0, 4 cases as T3N0M0, 2 cases as T3N1M0, 2 cases as T3N2M0, 2 cases as T4N1M0, and 1 case as T4N2M0. The course of disease was 1-6 months (mean, 2.4 months). CTA was performed before operation to locate the perforator vessel and its surface projection of emerging point and to design anterolateral thigh (myocutaneous) flap by computer. The defects of soft tissue ranged from 6 cm×4 cm to 11 cm×7 cm after resection of tumor. The flap was used to repair defects, including 14 thinned anterolateral thigh flaps, 7 anterolateral thigh myocutaneous flaps, and 2 anterolateral bilobed flaps; and the flap area ranged from 7 cm× 5 cm to 12 cm×8 cm. The donor sites were sutured directly.ResultsCTA showed that myocutaneous perforators penetrated at the fascias of the vastus lateralis muscles in 22 cases with a location rate of 95.7% (22/23). Submandibular fistula occurred in 1 case at 5 days after operation and fistula healed after changed dressings. Other wounds at recipient site and donor site healed at primary stage. Anastomose with 2 vein was performed because of poor venous return in 1 case, and the flap survived. The other flaps survived well. All the patients were followed up 6-36 months (mean, 16.4 months). At 3 months after operation, the simplified recovery standard of speech function and swallow function was established according to the University of Washington Quality of Life Scale (UW-QOL). The speech and swallow function recovered satisfactorily in 22 cases, and not very satisfactorily in 1 case of well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma of the right mouth floor (T 4N1M0). No obvious tissue atrophy was observed in 23 cases. No dysfunction was found at the donor site. There was no tumor recurrence in 21 patients; 1 patient accepted the second operation due to lymphonodi metastasis of contralateral neck at 6 months after first operation, who died after 23 months; 1 patient died of distant metastasis at 10 months after first operation.ConclusionThe anterolateral thigh (myocutaneous) flap designed with CTA could well recover the morphology and function of the recipient site.
Objective To compare the effectiveness of poly ether ether ketone (PEEK) positioning devices combined with mixed reality technology versus color doppler ultrasound guidance for the localization of vessels in anterolateral thigh perforator flap. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 40 patients with tissue defects after oral cancer resection who underwent repair using the anterolateral thigh perforator flap between January 2022 and June 2023. According to the different intraoperative positioning methods of the anterolateral thigh perforator flap, they were randomly divided into PEEK group (mixed reality technology positioning with PEEK positioning device combined with CTA data) and color ultrasound group (using color ultrasound guided positioning), with 20 cases in each group. There was no significant difference in gender, age, etiology, and disease duration in the two groups (P>0.05). The number of perforator vessels actually detected in the two groups of regions of interest was recorded, and compared them with the intraoperative identified number to calculate the success rate of perforator vessels; the distance between the perforating point and the actual puncture point was measured, the operation time of the two groups of flaps was recorded. ResultsP In the PEEK group, 32 perforator vessels were identified, 34 were found by intraoperative exploration, and the success rate was 94.1% (32/34); in the color ultrasound group, 29 perforator vessels were identified, 33 were found by intraoperative exploration, and the success rate was 87.8% (29/33); there was a significant difference in the success rate of identifying perforator vessels between the two groups (P<0.05). The distance between the perforating point and the actual puncture point and the operation time in PEEK group were significantly shorter than those in color ultrasound group (P<0.05). Patients in both groups were followed up 6-30 months, with a median of 17 months; there was no significant difference in the follow-up time between the two groups (P>0.05). In the PEEK group, there was 1 case of flap necrosis at the distal edge and delayed healing after trimming and dressing change. In the color ultrasound group, there was 1 case of flap necrosis at 7 days after operation and pectoralis major myocutaneous flap was selected for repair after removal of the necrotic flap. In the rest, the flap survived and the incision healed by first intention. Donor site infection occurred in 1 case in PEEK group and healed after anti-inflammatory treatment. The maxillofacial appearance of the two groups was good, the flap was not obviously bloated, and the patients were satisfied with the repair effect. Conclusion Compared with the traditional color ultrasound positioning, the positioning marker made of PEEK combined with CTA data to locate the vessels in anterolateral thigh perforator flap has higher success rate and positioning accuracy, and the flap production time is short, which has high clinical application value.