The purpose of this study was to assess the postoperative function of oral cancer patients reconstructed with free radial forearm flap using objective assessment and interview.
Forty-three normal individuals and twenty-seven patients served as subjects. Reconstructed patients were categorized into three groups: in the first group, the tongue and floor of the mouth were resected; in the second group, the soft palate and lateral wall of the oropharynx were resected ; and in the third group, the mandible was resected. Subjective asessment was carried out by interview. Objective assessment was carried out by three different methods: the spectrophtometric examination of mastication using ATP particle, the swallowing examination of swallowing using 30m1 water, and the oral feeding examination of ingestion using jelly, grule and cracker.
The results indicated that:(1) in mastication, the functional recovery was obtained by Group 2, Group 3, and Group 1 in that order ;(2) in deglutition and ingestion, it obtained by Group 3, Group 2, and Group 1 in that order. The findings seem to indicate that composite assessment methods (interview and objective examination) are needed in assessment of postoperative oral function.
