International Journal of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery | September 2022 | Vol 8 | Issue 9 Page 752 International Journal of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Munjal M et al. Int J Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2022 Sep;8(9):752-755 http://www.ijorl.com pISSN 2454-5929 | eISSN 2454-5937 Case Report Superior nasolabial flap in reconstruction of the tongue: case report Manish Munjal 1 *, Ramneesh Garg 2 , Porshia Rishi 3 , Harjinder Sidhu 1 , Shubham Munjal 3 , Shivam Talwar 3 , Salony Sharma 3 , Hardeep Kaur 3 INTRODUCTION Malignancy of the tongue involving its lateral border necessitates a wide field surgical resection with a half to one cm tumor free margin. A primary repair preserving the tip of the tongue, facilitates speech but, often leads to a late fixity to the floor. This compromises on speech, as tongue being a prominent articulator needs “bulk and mobility”, for production of comprehensive speech. Rotation flaps from the vicinity or free flaps from the less vital regions are harvested and used to resurface the defect so created, after resection. Soft tissues of the face were utilized to reconstitute nearby defects as early as the 1830s when Dieffenbach reconstructed defects of the ala of the nose with superiorly based nasolabial flaps. 1 In 1917 Esser used inferiorly based nasolabial flaps to repair palatal fistulae. Since then, modifications of the flaps have been described by several surgeons, ranging from the conventional pedicled flap (superiorly or inferiorly based) to subcutaneous pedicled flaps and facial-artery island flaps. 1 We utilised the superior nasolabial flap for reconstruction, post hemiglossectomy in an individual. CASE REPORT 40-year-old male presented to the tumor clinic of the oto- rhinolaryngology services of Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, with an ulceroproliferative lesion involving right lateral border of tongue for 1 month. There was no history of any pan or tobacco addiction. The patient was a known diabetic and hypertensive for last 5 years. On intra- oral examination, an ulcero-proliferative growth measuring about 3×1 cm was seen on the right side of anterior two-third involving lateral border of the tongue (Figure 1). The growth was extending to the ventral surface and had a mixed white and red colour. The surface was granular, and margins were everted. On palpation, the ABSTRACT Hemiglossectomy with functional rehabilitation using a rotational superior nasolabial flap as a single stage procedure and its outcome has been described. Nasolabial sulcus and nasofacial was the donor site for the nasolabial flap. This hairless area except for the lower cheek in males, is an important consideration in oral cavity reconstruction. The flap constituted by skin, subcutaneous tissue and the underlying musculature has a subdermal plexus is supplied by feeder vessels from the branches of the facial artery and provides the blood supply to the nasolabial muscle and skin. Usually, the choice of pedicle is based on the site of the defect and any need for rotation or advancement of tissue to the site of the defect. In our patient the superior nasolabial flap based on alar and lateral nasal artery was utilized. Keywords: Tongue, Nasolabial flap, Carcinoma, Reconstruction, Hemiglossectomy 1 Department of Ear Nose Throat - Head and Neck Surgery (ENT-HNS), 2 Department of Plastic Surgery, 3 Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India Received: 28 November 2020 Revised: 09 August 2022 Accepted: 10 August 2022 *Correspondence: Dr. Manish Munjal, E-mail: manishmunjal30@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/issn.2454-5929.ijohns20222169