A Comparative Study Of The Effects Of Three Commonly Used Flaps On The Quality Of Life Of Oral Cancer Patients

Objective: In this study,we investigated the effects and differences of three flaps commonly used for postoperative repair and reconstruction of oral cancer,namely,the submental island flap,the anterolateral thigh perforator flap and the forearm free flap,on the quality of patients’ life and provided a theoretical basis for clinicians’ flap selection.Methods: A total of 60 patients who underwent extended oral cancer resection with simultaneous flap repair at the Affiliated Stomatological Hospital of China Medical University from January 2014 to December 2019 were selected for this study and divided into three groups according to different repair methods,including 22 patients who underwent submental island flap repair,27 patients who underwent anterolateral thigh perforator flap repair,and 11 patients who underwent forearm free flap repair.After 12 months of repair and reconstruction,the patients were assessed using the University of Washington Quality of Life Scale(UW-QOL)and quality of life instruments for cancer patients-head and neck cancer(QLICP-HN)to assess the quality of postoperative survival of the three groups.SPSS Statistics 21.0 statistical software was used to statistically process the data,and the chi-square test was used for basic information and the nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis H test for survival quality scores.differences were statistically significant at P< 0.05.Results: There were no significant differences between the three groups in terms of gender,age,education,site,radiotherapy,length of hospital stay,and T stage.on the QLICP-HN scale,there were differences between the three groups in terms of psychological functioning levels,and in a two-by-two comparison of the three flap groups,there were significant differences between patients in the SIF and ALTPF groups(P<0.05),with SIF slightly higher than the ALTPF group.In the UW-QOL scale,there was a significant difference in swallowing function(P<0.05),and the ALTPF was slightly weaker than the SIF in a two-by-two comparison of the three flap groups.Conclusions: The use of SIF,ALTPF and FFF for postoperative repair and reconstruction of oral cancer can basically restore the basic functions of the patient’s oral cavity,and on the premise that there is no significant difference in the overall performance of the three flaps,SIF is our recommended choice due to its less tissue loss and shorter operative time.