Doctors at FV Hospital in HCM City on Tuesday used a free fibular flap for mandibular reconstruction on a 61-year-old patient with necrotic mandible. — Photo Courtesy of FV Hospital |
HCM CITY — Doctors at HCM City’s FV Hospital on Tuesday used a free fibular flap to reconstruct the lower jaw of a 61-year-old man with a necrotic mandible.
Mandibular reconstruction with free fibular flap is an advanced technique that Nguyễn Quảng Đại, head of the hospital’s ear, nose and throat ward, said requires surgeons to have outstanding professional skills and cleverness to ensure an aesthetic outcome.
FV Hospital’s doctors performed a seven-hour microsurgery to remove the necrotic mandible and used a portion of a fibula from the patient’s leg to reconstruct a new mandible.
After the surgery, he would have bone implant for dental rehabilitation on native bone and fibula flap, Đại said.
The patient, from the city’s Phú Nhuận District, is expected to recover within eight weeks.
Đại said this surgery has been performed on many patients with mandibular defects before.
If mandibular defects are not treated by reconstruction with a fibular flap, patients have to live with disability and deformity forever, he said.
Health experts said performing the surgery in the country helps reduce the number of patients going abroad.
It is a difficult surgery in terms of ensuring good function and aesthetics, they said.
This surgery is also used for patients with jaw bone cancer, they added. —VNS