2008 Volume 28 Issue 1 Pages 26-29
Pedicled buccal fat pad is nowadays widely applied for the reconstruction of relatively large defects of the maxilla with satisfactory profits. Here we report a case in which a defect was successfully reconstructed with pedicled buccal fat after a removal of a palatal tumor. An 87-year-old female has visited our hospital complaining a large mass of the palate. The mass was approximately 30 mm in diameter, elastic hard on palpation, with a large necrotic ulcer on its surface. It was strongly suspected as a malignant tumor through the clinical findings and a set of diagnostic imaging. The tumor was dissected under general anesthesia, and a large bone exposure and a soft palate perforation was caused after the tumor removal. A pedicled buccal fat pad was harvested from the right molar mucogingival fold, and the defect was mostly covered with the fat pad graft and tie-over. The histopathologic diagnosis of the lesion was carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma. Postoperative progress has been satisfactory without secondary infection, necrosis of the graft, functional disturbances due to a scar formation, oro-antral or oro-nasal communication, and tumor recurrence.
