Utility of Single-Stage Nasolabial Flap Reconstruction for Oral Cavity Defects Following Surgery for Oral Cancers and Premalignant Lesions: A Clinical Audit

An inferiorly based nasolabial flap (NLF) is a versatile flap for various oral cavity defects. However, it generally necessitates a second stage procedure to release the base at 3 weeks following the initial surgery. Reconstruction for oral cavity defects can be done with the inferiorly based nasolabial flap as a single-stage procedure. In this retrospective clinical audit, we analyzed patients who underwent an inferiorly based NLF reconstruction for oral cavity defect from January 2016 to September 2021. We analyzed the various defects for which this flap was used along with the associated complications and the safety of performing this flap in terms of its flap-related complications and the histopathological features such as margins. Forty-four patients underwent this inferiorly based single-stage NLF. The median age of the patients in the cohort was 56 years, with the majority being men (n = 38, 86.4%). Buccal mucosa and lip were the most common sites of the primary. Twenty-nine patients were per primam and 15 were recurrent cancers. Most had T1 (n = 14, 31.8%) and T2 (n = 19, 43.2%) cancers. The median closest margin was 6 mm and the base was 7 mm. There were no flap losses; however, 6 patients had minor wound breakdown for which secondary suturing was needed. Single-stage NLF is a safe flap that could be considered in select patients for appropriate oral cavity defects.