Cheek Advancement surgery
Cheek Advancement surgery is a type of surgery that can be done to repair a wide variety of small or moderate-sized cheek defects.
Some facts about Cheek Advancement surgery:
- The cheek advancement flap is a technique that is suitable for reconstruction of large cheek skin defects after excision of skin malignancies.
- The cheek area can be reconstructed as the cheek rotation flap has sufficient blood flow and large flap size. It is also easy to manipulate and flexible.
- The cheek rotation flap can be used for reconstruction of defects on cheek, lower eyelid, or medial and lateral canthus.
- The cheek area need a reconstruction after removal of the facial tumor.
- The location, size, depth, and the adjacent tissue relax degree is considered by the surgeon when reconstructing the defect site after removal of the facial tumor.
- The cheek rotation advancement flap is used to reconstruct the cheeks or the wide lower eyelid defect. It is one of the local flaps that reconstructs the face.
- Intention healing may offer acceptable functional and aesthetic results for small, superficial defects located in concave areas of the cheek, such as the preauricular sulcus, melolabial crease, and facial-alar groove.
- The only nonsurgical option for the treatment of cheek defects is healing by secondary intention
- Secondary intention may heal the large lateral cheek defect that cannot be closed primarily, in a patient who cannot tolerate complicated reconstructive options with a reasonable result.
- This form of healing is suitable for defects that are small and superficial and are not closely associated with the eyelid or lip .
Procedure for Cheek Advancement surgery:
- The procedure can be done when you are awake as well as asleep.
- A small incision will be made above the gumline of the upper teeth under each cheek.
- 3 to 5 days of swelling in the cheeks are expected.
- Mostly absorbable sutures are used that do not need to be removed.
- The rotation-advancement flaps which may be designed as either single or double lobe are used for cheek reconstruction.
- Most small defects may be primarily closed, where as large residual donor defects may require skin graft placement for closure.
- Repair of large cheek defects that are larger than 3 to 4 cm in the lower preauricular area where recruitment of the upper posterior auricular cervical skin is needed for wound closure can be done by rotational flaps.
- Transposition flaps may be used or better result in case of more medial part of the cheek.
- Medium-sized defects can be treated with the help of bilobed flaps that can also be used to rotate adjacent tissue into cheek defects.
- The secondary flap can be rotated in to fill the primary donor defect after advancement of the primary flap.
- Bilobed flaps are most effective in lateral defect repair for cheek reconstruction when the donor site can be placed in the cervical area as well as in the buccal area
- These allows recruitment of a larger adjacent flap and closure of the donor defect with a more distant flap.
- Bilobed flaps rotate adjacent tissue over the cheek defects for providing coverage.
