Background: Upper lip defects less than one-fourth of total upper lip length are typically closed directly, but larger defects require reconstruction. Established techniques, such as the Abbe/Estlander flap, often require multiple procedures. This report discusses a single-step method, involving a skin-mucosa double opposing V-Y advancement flap, which was utilized to reconstruct the upper lip after basal cell carcinoma extirpation.
Methods: The patient is a 54-year-old woman who presented with a 2.5-cm basal cell carcinoma in the right upper lip. Two parallel V-Y flaps were designed, on "parallel" planes of the skin and mucosa, and were advanced following wedge resection of tumor and portion of the adjacent orbicularis oris muscle. Skin/mucosa flap edges were brought to create a new skin-vermilion border, which was then sutured onto existing skin-vermilion border edges.
Results: The patient was evaluated 6 months after the operation, and examination showed well-healed flaps with excellent aesthetic and functional results. There was a thin, marginal scar, where reconstructed vermilion (medial) edge was sutured to native vermilion.
Conclusions: It was considered that this method could reconstruct anatomical features and function of the lip precisely. It seems that within certain limits (probably between one-fourth and one-third of total upper lip length), skin-mucosa double opposing V-Y advancement flaps appear to be the preferred method for upper lip reconstruction.