Improved Early Stage (T1/2) Oral Tongue Cancer Medial Pathology Margins Using Horizontal Mattress Suture Technique

Jimmy Argo¹, White Emily¹, Brandon Pierson¹, Elizabeth Gillies², Michael Anderson³ and Nilesh Vasan*¹

Received: November 10, 2017;   Published: November 16, 2017

DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2017.01.000540

Full Text PDF

To view the Full Article   Peer-reviewed Article PDF

Abstract

Objectives: Description of a novel surgical technique for partial glossectomy in oral tongue cancer patients with comparison of pathologic margins to conventional technique.

Methods: Patients with oral tongue cancer underwent partial glossectomy using a new horizontal mattress surgical technique developed by the senior author and were compared retrospectively to an age, sex and stage matched cohort. Anterior, posterior, and medial pathology margins were compared utilizing the student’s t-test for normally distributed variables, and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test for variables which were not normally distributed.

Results: 10 patients underwent partial glossectomy with the new technique. The mean medial pathology margin was significantly greater in the new technique group (1.40 cm vs 0.88 cm, p=0.04). There were no significant differences in anterior margin or posterior margin, age, tumor size or depth of invasion.

Conclusions: The new surgical technique using horizontal mattress sutures for dissection guidance and specimen orientation yielded improved medial pathology margins compared to conventional technique.

Keywords: Partial Glossectomy; Oral Tongue Cancer; Horizontal Mattress; Pathologic Margins; Novel Surgical Technique

Abstract| Introduction| Patients and Methods| Description of Procedure| Results| Discussion| Conclusion| References|