Thomas John K, Gaikwad Vivek Samuel, Babu Telugu Ramesh, Mathai John, Srinivas Rohit, Karl Immanuel Sampath
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
Department of Pathology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
J Korean Assoc Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2021 Jun 30;47(3):209-215. doi: 10.5125/jkaoms.2021.47.3.209.
Vascular malformation (VM) of the tongue can cause true macroglossia in children. Reduction glossectomy provides primary relief when sclerotherapy has failed or is not possible. In this study, we evaluated the surgical role in functional outcome of reduction glossectomy performed for VM of the tongue.
: We evaluated the functional and surgical outcomes of seven children who were treated at a tertiary care centre in Southern India between 2013 and 2018.
: Six children underwent median glossectomy, while one child underwent lateral glossectomy. Functional assessment was performed at least 2 years after the date of surgery. At the time of assessment, speech was comprehensible for three children and was occasionally unintelligible in four children. Taste and swallowing were normal in all seven children. Six children exhibited a minimal residual lesion after surgery, of which only one was symptomatic. Residual lesions were managed with sclerotherapy (n=3), observation (n=2), or repeat surgery (n=1).
Reduction glossectomy in children with macroglossia secondary to VMs has acceptable outcomes in terms of cosmesis and speech, with no gastronomic restriction.
