A 53-year-old auto driver in the city — who had developed an ulcer on his tongue that was later diagnosed as a cancerous growth extending to the lymph nodes of the neck and had to be reconstructed — got a new tongue from a harvested flap of his stomach.
To stop the spread of cancer, doctors at Trustwell Hospital in the city recently performed a radical surgery that involved removal of three-fourth of the tongue and lymph nodes from both sides of the neck.
Satish C., Consultant Surgical Oncologist at the hospital, who conducted the surgery said: “Generally, a part of the flesh along with skin from patient’s outer body part is reframed into the tongue and sewn together in such cases. But, we came up with a very unique solution for this case. We harvested a part from the patient’s stomach and made it into a brand-new tongue. The stomach flap was reversed to make the outer layer of the tongue,” he explained.
“The moisture on the tongue is very much needed for us to speak clearly. General reconstruction with skin as the outer flap is very uncomfortable for patients. Because of hair follicles in them, there is always hair growth on the outer layer of the new tongue. Also, the skin is extremely dry compared to the regular tongue which makes the patients feel thirsty always. Our solution was to avoid these inconveniences,” he said adding that the complex surgery lasted for over eight hours.
