• Archives of Plastic Surgery
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.31-36
• /
• 2010

Purpose: The primary goal of palatoplasty is to enable normal speech with harmonious growth of face. Some children who had palatoplasty display typical findings of transverse maxillary deficiency requiring orthodontic widening of the maxilla. Levi (2009) described a cleft palate repair coupled with pedicled buccal fat pad flaps to cover bone exposed areas of the hard palate. Hence we report clinical experiences of cleft palate repair using pedicled buccal fat pad flap. Methods: Four Veau class II and a Veau class I cleft palate patients underwent palatoplasty with buccal fat pad flap by single surgeon from April 2009 to August 2009. Two patients received 2-flap palatoplasty and three patients 1-flap palatoplasty, respectively. After the cleft palate repair, sharp mosquito scissors was placed in the superior buccal sulcus just lateral to the maxillary tuberosity and inserted directly through the mucosa resulting in buccal fat pad extrusion. The elevated flap was moved to cover mucoperiosteal defect in hard palatal area. Results: Five patients underwent primary palatoplasty using buccal fat pad flap. Flap harvest and inset took on average 9 minutes per flap. Mucosal epithelization took 18 days on average. No patients had complications related to the buccal fat pad flap. Conclusion: Buccal fat pad pedicled flap has significant potential to function as an added vascularized tissue layer in cleft palate repair and we can expect better growth of maxilla with this method although longer duration of follow-up was unavailable.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.40
• /
• pp.11.1-11.5
• /
• 2018

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most commonly occurring malignant tumor in the oral cavity. In South Korea, it occurs most frequently in the mandible, tongue, maxilla, buccal mucosa, other areas of the oral cavity, and lips. Radial forearm free flap (RFFF) is the most widely used reconstruction method for the buccal mucosal defect. The scar of the forearm donor, however, is highly visible and unsightly, and a secondary surgical site is needed when such technique is applied. For these reasons, buccal fat pad (BFP) flap has been commonly used for closing post-surgical excision sites since the recent decades because of its reliability, ease of harvest, and low complication rate. Case presentation: In the case reported herein, BFP flap was used to reconstruct a cheek mucosal defect after excision. The defect was completely covered by the BFP flap, without any complications. Conclusion: Discussed herein is the usefulness of BFP flap for the repair of the cheek mucosal defect. Also, further studies are needed to determine the possibility of using BFP flap when the defect is deep, and the maximum volume that can be harvested considering the changes in volume with age.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.185-190
• /
• 1998

Various local flaps and distant flaps including tongue flap, palatal island flap, and buccal flap as well as skin grafts have been used for the reconstruction of oral mucosal defect. In the posterior region of oral cavity and the buccal cheek area, buccal fat pad can be used as a pedicled graft. The buccal fat pad is different from other subcutaneous fat tissue and it is easily accessible. There are many advantages in pedicled buccal fat pad graft for the closure of oral mucosal defect. The procedure is easy, there is no visible scar in the donor site, it is capable of reconstruction of various contour, and it has good viability. We had used buccal fat pad as a pedicled graft for the closure of oral mucosal defect after the excision of tumor and the oroantral fistula. From the results of these cases, we concluded that the use of the buccal fat pad flaps was worth of the consideration for the reconstruction of oral mucosal defect in the regions of the buccal cheek, and posterior oral cavity.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
• /
• v.41 no.9 s.412
• /
• pp.637-646
• /
• 2003

Euccal fat pad is special fat tissue which is different from subdermal fat. Anatomically, buccal fat pad is easy to harvest in the course of dental surgery procedure. In 1802, it was introduced by Bichat, Since Egyedi used buccal fat pad flap for the closure of oro-antral fistula and oro-nasal fistula, it has been widely used as an alternative method for the reconstruction of small to medium-sized intraoral defects in oral and mzxillofacial surgery. Kim et al. reported successful results in the all cases they applied buccal fat pad for the reconstruction of intraoral defect from their 31 months follow-up data. Because intraonal wounds are difficult to complete the layered suture and there are high risks of infection related with wound dental implant surgery, double layer closure using some kind of local flaps or other procedure is recommended. So we are to introduce the useful applications of the pedicled buccal fat pad in the dental surgery procedure from the various case presentations.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.39
• /
• pp.5.1-5.9
• /
• 2017

Many congenital and acquired defects occur in the maxillofacial area. The buccal fat pad flap (BFP) is a simple and reliable flap for the treatment of many of these defects because of its rich blood supply and location, which is close to the location of various intraoral defects. In this article, we have reviewed BFP and the associated anatomical background, surgical techniques, and clinical applications. The surgical procedure is simple and has shown a high success rate in various clinical applications (approximately 90%), including the closure of oroantral fistula, correction of congenital defect, treatment of jaw bone necrosis, and reconstruction of tumor defects. The control of etiologic factors, size of defect, anatomical location of defect, and general condition of patient could influence the prognosis after grafting. In conclusion, BFP is a reliable flap that can be applied to various clinical situations.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.29-32
• /
• 1994

IN 1956, Peer presented a very comprehensive account of free fatty tissue transplantation. The use of buccal fat pad had been usually used to reconstruct the perioral defects. The buccal fat pad is a special fatty tissue which is markedly different from subcutaneous fat. And it is a easily accessible fat tissue in oral and maxillofacial region. The buccal fat pad can be used as a free graft or pedicled flap. Recently, buccal fat pad is interested in cosmetic surgery because its' removal for cosmetic purpose has been favorable result. We used the buccal fat as an unlined, pedicled graft for closure of large oroantral fistula. We present a case of report and review of literature.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.174-177
• /
• 2013

Bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ) is a disease characterized by jaw necrosis and delayed wound healing in patients who had received bisphosphonates. Buccal fat pad (BFP) can be used as a pedicled flap in the posterior region of the oral cavity. BFP pedicle flap needs simple surgical technique and it shows less donor site morbidity and aesthetic problem than other vascularized flap. BFP pedicled flap was fed by 3 arteries-facial, internal maxillary, and transverse facial artery. Osteomyelitis was generally related with poor blood supply. Thus, rich blood supply of BFP pedicle flap can have a potential advantage to BRONJ patients. In this case report, we presented 3 BRONJ patients treated by BFP pedicle flap after sequestrectomy.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.453-460
• /
• 2015

Background Reconstruction of oropharyngeal defects after resection of oropharyngeal cancer is a significant challenge. The purpose of this study is to introduce reconstruction using a combination of a buccinator myomucosal flap and a buccal fat pad flap after cancer excision and to discuss the associated anatomy, surgical procedure, and clinical applications. Methods In our study, a combination of a buccinator myomucosal flap with a buccal fat pad flap was utilized for reconstruction after resection of oropharyngeal cancer, performed between 2013 and 2015. After oropharyngectomy, the defect with exposed vital structures was noted. A buccinator myomucosal flap was designed and elevated after an assessment of the flap pedicle. Without requiring an additional procedure, a buccal fat pad flap was easily harvested in the same field and gently pulled to obtain sufficient volume. The flaps were rotated and covered the defect. In addition, using cadaver dissections, we investigated the feasibility of transposing the flaps into the lateral oropharyngeal defect. Results The reconstruction was performed in patients with squamous cell carcinoma. The largest tumor size was $5cm{\times}2cm(length{\times}width)$. All donor sites were closed primarily. The flaps were completely epithelialized after four weeks, and the patients were followed up for at least six months. There were no flap failures or postoperative wound complications. All patients were without dietary restrictions, and no patient had problems related to mouth opening, swallowing, or speech. Conclusions A buccinator myomucosal flap with a buccal fat pad flap is a reliable and valuable option in the reconstruction of oropharyngeal defects after cancer resection for maintaining functionality.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.58-65
• /
• 2020

Oroantral fistula (OAF), also termed oroantral communication, is an abnormal condition in which there is a communicating tract between the maxillary sinus and the oral cavity. The most common causes of this pathological communication are known to be dental implant surgery and extraction of posterior maxillary teeth. The purpose of this article is to describe OAF; introduce the approach algorithm for the treatment of OAF; and review the fundamental surgical techniques for fistula closure with their advantages and disadvantages. The author included a thorough review of the previous studies acquired from the PubMed database. Based on this review, this article presents cases of OAF patients treated with buccal flap, buccal fat pad (BFP), and palatal rotational flap techniques.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.153-159
• /
• 1991

The use of the autogenous free fat is a well-known procedure to fill in superficial depressions resulting from the traumatic or congenital defects. The major donor site for this procedure was the abdominal subcutaneous fat or buttocks. In 1977, Egyedi was the first to report the use of the buccal fat pad as a pedicled graft. The buccal fat pad is a structure usually considered to be a nuisance when encountered in intraoral procedures such as facial bone osteotomies, elevation of buccal falp, or procedures on Stensen's duct. In these operations, appearance of the buccal fat pad complicates surgical exposure. The buccal fat pad is a lobulated convex mass of fatty tissue covered by a very delicate membrane, and is described as having a body from which four processes extend. These projection serve as a filling material between the various muscular structures in the area. Recently malar depression was augmented with the pedicled buccal fat pad in 3 cases, and it was used for the reconstruction of the nasolabial fold in one case.