[Evaluation of autologous fat grafting in improving post-treatment skin fibrosis in 20 patients with oral cancer].

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical effect of autologous fat grafting for treating cervical skin fibrosis in patients with oral cancer after neck dissection with or without radiotherapy.

Methods: A total of 20 patients who underwent oral cancer resection and neck dissection in Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from October 2022 to July 2023 were enrolled, 7 patients were treated with radiotherapy after neck dissection and 13 patients were treated with neck dissection. According to the degree of face-neck depression, the range of fibrosis and the function of neck and shoulder, corresponding volume of autologous fat was used to fill the depression. Three months after treatment, the improvement of cervical skin fibrosis was evaluated in terms of scar improvement, shoulder and neck function, and quality of life. SPSS 26.0 software package was used for statistical analysis of the data.

Results: The interval between the treatment of oral cancer and fat filling was 11-72 months, and the dose of fat grafting was 15-45 mL. There were no complications such as local induration, infection and necrosis in all patients. Three months after treatment, the results of Constant-Murley Score(CMS), neck fibrosis symptom(VAS), patient observer scar assessment scale(PSAS, OSAS) and FACE-Q quality of life score were better than those before treatment, and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).

Conclusions: Autologous fat grafting can significantly improve the fibrosis of the neck skin after neck dissection with or without radiotherapy, and improve shoulder and neck dysfunction caused by surgery and radiotherapy. This method is worthy of clinical used because of the low rate of complication.