Objectives: After resection of the tumors of oral cavity adjacent to the mandible, it is a common situation that the whole of one side of the gingival mucosal segment has to be stripped off the mandible to get an adequate margin. When a cutaneous flap is used for reconstruction, it has to be hitched to the teeth to get a watertight seal. We describe a technique to hitch the flap to the adjacent teeth in such an instance.
Materials and methods: The technique was applied in 10 patients with oral cancer, resected, and reconstructed with cutaneous flaps.
Results: The technique was found to be effective in all 10 patients. Adequate seal was obtained in all patients. Oral diet was started within 7 days.
Conclusion: An effective and simple technique to approximate a cutaneous flap to the teeth-bearing mandible, when all the mucosa is removed as part of oncological resection, is reported.
Keywords: Free flap; flap-hitching stich; head and neck cancers; oral cancer; reconstruction.