Abstract
Patients with advanced tongue cancer generally undergo an extensive resection and reconstruction with a microvascular free flap. However, we have encountered patients who develop postoperative dysphagia due to an insufficient reconstructed tongue volume after surgery for advanced tongue cancer. A tissue expander was inserted into the tongue base under local anesthesia and then the optimal position and volume of the tissue expander was determined by fluoroscopy. Under general anesthesia one week later, a formed omentum was then inserted into the tongue base after replacing the tissue expander. The omentum has some advantages as a tissue filler, such as the fact that it is large fatty vascular rich tissue which can be easily formed into the ideal desired shape. Our minimally invasive method using omental tissue immediately improved two patients with postoperative dysphagia due to oral phase dysfunction.
