Hi everyone,

My dad went through surgery this past Friday, including removing a portion of his jawbone on one side. The plastic surgeon had told us that they would be using a fibular flap to reconstruct it. However, after the surgery, we were told that the portion of the bone that had to be removed in order to get good margins was too large for the fibular flap, as it essentially involved the entire bone up to the TMJ joint on one side.

Because of this, the ENT resident said that they instead used a flap composed entirely of muscle tissue, as opposed to any bone. He said that this will not be noticeable unless someone is actually touching his jaw.

I've done some basic reading and haven't been able to find any reference to a boneless, muscle-based mandible reconstruction. Does anyone else have any experience with this, either in terms of why this option would have been chosen or what my dad can expect when he recovers. Also, can anyone point me to any other resources that discuss this sort of reconstruction more in depth? Thanks.