Radial forearm-palmaris longus tenocutaneous free flap; implication in the repair of the moderate-sized postoncologic soft palate defect

Background. Moderate resection of the soft palate results in suboptimal outcomes in terms of postoperative velopharyngeal function. We propose the radial forearm tenocutaneous free flap incorporating the palmaris longus tendon for reconstruction of the levator sling in these cases. Methods. Twenty-six patients underwent reconstruction with this method. Group I defect involved up to one-fourth of the soft palate. Group II defect involved up to one-half of the soft palate whether or not including the uvula. Group III defect involved more than three-fourths of the soft palate. Postoperative function was assessed by means of speech intelligibility, swallowing performance, nasalance score, and nasoendoscopy. Results. Groups I and II showed normal results for speech intelligibility and swallowing function at 44 months. In group III, both parameters proved to be suboptimal. Conclusions. Moderate-sized soft palatal resection cases (group II) benefited most from this particular method of dynamic reconstruction using the radial forearm tenocutaneous free flap.