Abstract
An oroantral fistula usually occurs following extraction of a tooth. It causes odontogenic maxillary sinusitis and must be closed if it is large and chronic. This is a difficult operation and various methods have been described. Hitherto, we have successfully carried out Sasaki-Zange's method in which the mucous membrane of the inferior nasal meatus is used for the operation. In 4 recent cases it was not possible to use the above method. In these cases the fistula was closed by implanting the fascia temporalis or fascia lata into the fistula from the antral side. A representative case is as follows: In a 24 year-old man who had already undergone radical antral surgery and whose mucous membrane of the inferior nasal meatus was absent, closure was attained by utilizing the fascia lata. Following radical antral surgery, the fascia is implanted and fixed from the antral side of the fistula.
Advantages of using fasciae include:
1) easy to obtain
2) excellent implantation
3) no absorption
In spite of its excellent features there do not appear to be any reports on its use for closure of the antral fistula. This method of implanting the fascia has merit and is indicated for all cases.
