What is a glossectomy?
Glossectomy is surgical removal of the whole or part of the tongue. The procedure is performed to treat tongue cancer if other treatment options have failed. Since the mouth cancer can spread to the nearby lymphatic glands, glossectoms can be to remove cancer tissue to save life.
Most of the glossectomy removes only part of the language. The total glossectomy in which the whole language is removed is very rare. In both cases, the operation is performed under general anesthesia. If the larger part of the tongue is removed, the skin graft is required. The aim of the skin graft, as part of the glossectomy, is to maintain the mobility of the language as much as possible. A common procedure in such cases is the radial flap without forearm in which the skin is made of wrist, along with the blood vessels that adds, grafted on the tongue. The patient must stay in the hospital for seven to ten days, get oxygen through the mask on the face or small tubes in the nostrils for the first 24 to 48 hours.The patient must also feed the tube for the first few days after the surgery.
Glossectomy patient usually undergoes radiation treatment after surgery to ensure that cancer does not appear. Speech therapy is also usually required in aftercare. If at least a third of the original language remains after surgery and if the operation is successful, the patient has a very good chance to regain the ability to eat and speak as before surgery.
Like all operations, there are risks associated with glossectoms. Bleeding tongue may occur at the beginning of the procedure, which potentially blocks the patient's airways. A fistula or abnormal passage of the cavity may form between the skin and the lunge. If a flap is made without a radial forearm, graft may be unsuccessful. Finally, especially in cases where more than two -thirds of the tongue are removed, the patient may suffer from insufficient mobility in the new language, leading to difficultyI eat with food, swallow and speaking.
The prognosis for oral cancer is not good, with only 50% of patients survive after five years. Glossectomy does not mean drastically prognosis. An alternative to the surgical procedure is to insert radioactive wires into cancer tissue, but the procedure requires specialized doctors and equipment and is not performed so often.