Objective To study the feasibility, surgical techniques, and results of submental island flaps for reconstruction of hypopharyngeal noncircumferential defects. Methods A retrospective review of the archives was performed on 16 patients（6 males, 10 females, aged 41-78 years）who suffered from hypopharyngeal cancer. From August 1998 to August 2002, the patients underwent a partial removal of the hypopharynx and reconstruction by submental island flaps. Their hypopharyngeal carcinomas belonged to squamous carcinoma. Of the 16 patients (2 in UICC clinical stage Ⅱ, 11 in Ⅲ, 3 in Ⅳ), 9 had their pathologicalorigin in the pyriform sinus, 4 in the posterior pharyngeal wall, and 3 in the postcricoid. The flap area ranged from 8.0 cm×4.5 cm to 5.0 cm×3.0 cm. Results The follow-up for 3-7 years showed that the submental island flaps healed well in all patients with a success rate of 100%. The swallowing function returned to normal 1014 days after operation without complications of salivary fistula and infection. The 3-year and 5-year survival rates were 68.8% (11/16) and 62.5% (5/8), respectively. Conclusion Submental island flaps are convenient for reconstruction of hypopharyngeal noncircumferential defects, and they are safe and reliable, too.
