Dismantling and reassembling of the facial skeleton

In the recent years, access osteotomies have been suggested to reach areas of the craniofacial skeleton that would not have been easily resectable. Some techniques of disassembling of the facial skeleton have been described in the past. In some cases, however, when the bony fragments were not pedicled to the soft tissue, reabsorption was noted. For this reason, new dismantling techniques with adequate blood supply to the bony fragments have been developed.

Apart from the maxilla cheek flap, other composite flaps have been described. These flaps may be combined if necessary in selected cases.

These techniques may be considered a major step forward in the treatment of deeply localized tumors in the craniomaxillofacial area.