Upper Arm Tissue Reconstruction Preserves Speech and Quality of Life for Sales Professional

Lucknow : For a 37-year-old man who had been living with a lump on the left side of his tongue for nearly 10 years, the situation became serious when the condition turned cancerous and gradually spread to the inner part of the tongue.

An examination by Dr. Vivekanand Singh, Director, Head and Neck Cancer, Medanta Hospital, and Dr. Piyush, Consultant, Head and Neck Cancer, Medanta Hospital, revealed that the tumour was growing from the middle part of the tongue towards the lower jaw. An MRI also showed that the cancer had reached the muscles beneath the tongue and the floor of the mouth.

In such a situation, the challenge before the doctors was not limited to removing the cancer. Speaking and communicating with people were an important part of the patient’s work. Therefore, it was equally important to ensure that after the surgery, he would be able to speak and eat and return to his normal life.

At Medanta, Lucknow, the cancerous portion of the tongue was removed during surgery. The lymph nodes on the same side of the neck, where the cancer had spread, were also removed.

The next major challenge was to reconstruct the tongue. Usually, tissue is taken from the lower part of the arm for this purpose, but this patient had previously suffered an injury to his arm. Therefore, the doctors used tissue from the upper arm to reconstruct the new portion of the tongue.

The aim of the surgery was not merely to fill the gap left after the removal of the tumour. The effort was to reconstruct the tongue in such a way that speaking and eating would be as easy as possible for the patient.

The patient recovered well after the surgery and was discharged from the hospital on the fifth day.

Today, six years have passed since the surgery. The patient is living a normal life and has also returned to work. As a salesperson, communication is an essential part of his job, and he is now able to speak with people again. His voice is also almost normal.

This case highlights that success in cancer treatment is not limited to removing the disease. At times, the real challenge is also to preserve the patient’s quality of life so that after treatment, they can return to their family, work and everyday life.