BILATERAL RADIAL FOREARM FREE FLAPS FOR ORAL-CAVITY RECONSTRUCTION

Simultaneous primary tumors (tumors found at the same time or within 1 month of each other) are not uncommon in head and neck cancer. Most f requently, one lesion is small relative to the other; however, this is not always the case. When two anatomically separate simultaneous prim ary tumors are large, a challenge for the reconstructive surgeon exist s. The authors present a case of simultaneous primary tumors arising a long the left and right mandibular gingiva. Following extirpation of t he tumors, the defects were reconstructed with bilateral free radial f orearm flaps. They conclude that this procedure is an excellent option for reconstruction of anatomically separate simultaneous defects of t he head and neck region. This reconstruction provides an excellent tis sue match for the intraoral region, and can be accomplished with minim al morbidity in a relatively short operative time.