Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
College/Unit
School of Medicine
Department/Program/Center
Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery
Abstract
Background: Transoral robotic and laser surgery is rising in popularity due to the increasing incidence of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) related oropharyngeal cancer. However, adequate exposure of the tongue base remains a major hurdle in many cases. This study introduces a novel surgical technique called the Floor of Mouth Window, which can be used to improve tongue base exposure at the time of transoral surgery. Methods: This is a preclinical anatomic cadaver study. Seven fresh cadavers were used for this study. Exposure of the tongue base was compared between conventional mouth gags – the Feyh-Kastenbauer and McIvor – and our novel procedure, the Floor of Mouth Window. Exposure was compared subjectively using endoscopic and extracorporeal photographs, as well as objective measurements of inter-incisor distance, and oral cavity volume. Results: The exposure achieved by the Floor of Mouth Window technique was superior to the mouth gags. Inter-incisor distance and oral cavity volume measurements were all more favorable with the Floor of Mouth Window. This technique allowed for successful transoral laser tongue base and tonsil resection without the use of gags or scopes. Conclusion: The Floor of Mouth Window is an adjunctive procedure that simply and reliably improved exposure for transoral oropharyngeal surgery in this cadaveric feasibility study. This improved exposure may help increase the adoption of transoral surgery and reduce the number of aborted cases due to anatomic limitations.
Digital Commons Citation
Chung, Jefferson; Bender-Heine, Adam; and Lambert, H. Wayne, "Improving Exposure for Transoral Oropharyngeal Surgery with the Floor of Mouth Window: A Cadaveric Feasibility Study" (2019). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 1499.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/1499
Source Citation
Chung, J., Bender-Heine, A., & Lambert, H. W. (2019). Improving exposure for transoral oropharyngeal surgery with the floor of mouth window: a cadaveric feasibility study. Journal of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, 48(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40463-019-0383-2
Comments
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.