Doctors at Narayana Multispecialty Hospital Reconstructs Inner Cheek Walls With Blood Vessels and Skin Grafted from 23-Year-Old's Hands

• A 23-year-old could not open his mouth more than 4mm whereas a normal person can do so upto 30 - 50mm.
• Chewing supari since his teens, the patient was diagnosed with oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) in which initial growth of multiple lesions in the deep end of his mouth developed into fibrosis.
• According to Dr Shakti Singh Deora, consultant head and neck oncosurgeon at Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, Ahmedabad, OSMF is pre-malignant and at a progressive stage is irreversible with 12 - 18 per cent chance of developing oral cancer. 
• The OSMF diagnosed at the hospital was categorized at grade 3 or 4 for which a surgery was performed.
• Through the delicate surgical technique of bilobe radial forearm flap Dr. Deora grafted the blood vessels and skin from his hand to reconstruct the inner lining of the cheeks in stead of using the new skin from the neck and face.
• In this procedure, the graft is transplanted on both sides of the inner lining of the cheeks and blood vessels are sutured to the neck vessels with the help of threads thinner than hair.
• This helps the patient to open and close his mouth normally.
• A bilobe radial forearm flap was required to be performed after removing the fibrosis as the patient would not be able to open his mouth after the wound healed. 

Source: Narayana Multispecialty Hospital, Media Update