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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Dog with mouth and nose hole fixed using muscle flap after jaw lock

By Cavanaugh, Ryan P et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·2011·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Oronasal fistula repair utilizing a temporalis muscle flap in a dog with severe trismus.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

A 9-year-old spayed female cocker spaniel was brought in because she had a severe oral and nasal issue after treatment for a maxillary squamous cell carcinoma (a type of cancer). After surgery and radiation therapy, she developed a persistent hole between her mouth and nose, which made recovery difficult. The veterinarian used a special surgical technique involving a flap of muscle from her head to close the defect, which successfully fixed the problem with minimal complications. The dog was able to recover well after this procedure.

People also search for: cocker spaniel cancer treatment · dog oronasal fistula repair · maxillary squamous cell carcinoma in dogs

Abstract

A 9 yr old spayed female cocker spaniel presented for evaluation of an invasive maxillary squamous cell carcinoma. Curative intent surgery and radiation therapy allowed for local control of the neoplasm; however, the development of a persistent oronasal fistula prevented a complete recovery. A temporalis myofascial rotation flap allowed for successful resolution of the maxillary defect. Implementation of the flap was relatively simple and was associated with few complications.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22058353/