ABSTRACT
Background: Post Palatoplasty fistulas are the common complications seen after cleft palate repair. This produce various symptoms including regurgitation of fluids into nasal cavity, interference with normal speech and middle ear problems. Although small fistulas can be successfully treated with local flaps such as palatal or buccal mucosal flaps, large fistulas are difficult to treat. Because of rich blood supply, tongue is a suitable and convenient source of large flap. The anteriorly based dorsal tongue flap is a safe and effective method for closure of relatively large recurrent palatal fistula without any functional impairment of donor site
Objective: To determine the success rate of Tongue flap in correction of the nasal regurgitation in recurrent palatal fistulas
Duration of study: 12 months from 16th July 2010 to 15th July 2011
Study design: It was descriptive case series
Settings: This study was carried out in the department of plastic surgery Services institute of medical sciences, Services Hospital Lahore
Methods: Forty patients who were having recurrent palatal fistula included in this study. All underwent palatal fistula repair by dorsal tongue flap. Each patient was followed after one month of operation for fistula closure and correction of nasal regurgitation
Results: In this study 65 percent of the patients were male, while 35 percent of them were female. 21 [52.5%] of the patients belonged to age group 10-15 years, while 14 [35.0%] of the respondents had 16-20 years of age and remaining 5 [12.5%] of them had 21-30 years of age. The 90 percent [out of 40] of the patients had complete fistula closure, while only 10.0 percent of them had not complete fistula closure. Nasal regurgitation was corrected in 38 [95 %] of the patients and remaining 2 [5%] patients had un-corrected nasal regurgitation
Conclusions: Tongue flap is a effective and reliable method of treatment, not only for palatal fistula closure but also treating nasal regurgitation which is a social stigma for patients in recalcitrant palatal fistula