• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 1995

A large lateral facial defects especially a through and through defect of the cheek remains as challenging field of reconstruction for the head and neck surgeons. Closure of these wounds is technically troublesome due to the magnitude and location of the soft tissue and skin defect, functional and aesthetic consideration. optimal cancer surveillance, and desire for good nourishment. Most traditional methods dealing with these defects, including split-thickness skin graft, local and regional flaps as well as musculocutaneous flaps have their limitations. We applied four different methods for these reconstruction in four cases. We utilized temporal muscle flap, forearm free flap and secondary healing for repair of mucosal defects, and medial base cervicopectoral flap, pectoralis major myocutaneous flap and cervicofacial flap for the reconstruction of external skin defects. In one case, both sides were reconstructed with single forearm free flap. In our experiences, secondary healing could be one of the useful method for mucosal repair in the defect between upper and lower gingivobuccal sulcus. However, forearm free flap was thought to be more ideal for the cases with mandibulectomy. For the external repair, the regional skin flap was considered to be superior to pectoralis major myocutaneous flap or forearm free flap especially on color matching.