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ABSTRACT Oral Submucous Fibrosis (OSF) is a chronic, insidious debilitating condition of obscure etiology. In our center a young female patient presented with Oral submucous fibrosis without known causative factor. Patient was suspected of having genetic susceptibility as another sibling of her had the same disease. Due to severe limitation in mouth opening, surgical option of laterally based posterior tongue flap was used after releasing fibrous bands. Post operatively mouth opening was improved considerably with transient dysarthria and dysphagia which improved with the passage of time.
Key Words: Oral Submucous Fibrosis , Tongue flap, Dysarthria, Dysphagia.
INTRODUCTION OSF is a chronic disease of unknown etiology mainly affecting the oral cavity. Sometimes extending to the larynx and pharynx as well. It is considered to be a premalignant condition.1 This disease is predominantly found in India. Global estimates from 1996 show 2.5 million people to be affected by this disease while a survey conducted in 2002 reveals more than 5 million people in India to be victims of this disease. Male:female, as reported in Indian community is 0.2-2.3% to 1.2-4.57%.2 Among the common signs and symptoms are limited mouth opening of varying extent, stomatitis, burning sensation in the oral mucosa, palpabable fibrous bands in the soft palate, tongue, buccal mucosa and sometimes lips, eustachian tube narrowing, dysphagia and hoarseness of voice are also reported.3 Betel nut chewing habit, capsaicin hypensitivity, areca nut chewing, copper consumption are main etiological factors. Role of the certain genes is also implicated in the genesis of OSF but is very rare.2,5 OSF is either treated by medical or surgical therapies with varying results.4 Among surgical therapies, Tongue flap is not routinely used for OSF in many centers and no published data about its use in OSF has been present in Pakistani literature till date. The objective of this case report was to discuss the technique, merits and demerits of tongue flap in Oral Submucous fibrosis.
CASE REPORT A 25 year old female patient reported to outpatient department of our institute with the complaint of limited mouth opening for the last 12 years. Patient was in her usual state of health when her mouth opening gradually started decreasing. Patients medical, dental and social history was unremarkable. She revealed no history of any...