Innovative Surgery Allows for Normal Life

From BestHealth, July 2006

Five years ago, Sandra Scott was facing cancer surgery that would remove a large part of her palate, with the possibility that she would be unable to eat, drink or speak normally unless the resulting opening could be successfully repaired.

Most reconstructive surgeons would make a denture that plugs the hole, explains J. Dale Browne, M.D., of the Department of Otolaryngology at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

“As the hole gets smaller, they will have constant remodeling of the device until they get a stable fit. But they will always have to wear it, and that can be difficult for young, active people.”

That would describe Scott, an assistant principal at Cedar Ridge Elementary School in Pilot Mountain.

Browne’s solution for Scott and many other similar patients has been instead to use the temporalis muscle, which is normally used for chewing, to fill the space left in the palate. He is one of the few surgeons in the country routinely doing the procedure, which has produced excellent results.

Scott was delighted with her outcome. “It’s been a miracle. It’s been great,” she said. Although she has had to learn a few “tricks” to cope with the reconstruction of her mouth, Scott said that her speech and breathing are normal and she is not restricted in what she eats or drinks. “As far as it limiting my life activities—not at all.”

Having done 400 major head and neck reconstruction procedures over the past decade, Browne is one of the region’s leading head and neck cancer experts. Along with Chris Sullivan, M.D., Browne is the surgical arm of the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Tumor Clinic at Wake Forest Baptist.

The ability to perform both the cancer removal and reconstruction — in the same surgery — is a major benefit for the patient.

Scott agrees. “That whole facility, that whole setup, could not be better. They’re much more than a doctor-patient relationship. They are there to help you in any way they can. And when you’re sick and you’re a patient, that means everything to you.”

Interested in learning more about this innovative procedure? A cancer removal and reconstruction procedure can be viewed through the webcast archive at www.wfubmc.edu.