Abstract: PURPOSE: To compare the effects of two forearm flap techniques on donor site recovery and skin sensory function after repair of oral and maxillofacial tumor defects. METHODS: A total of 206 patients with oral and maxillofacial tumors admitted to the 910th Hospital of the Joint Logistic Support Force of the PLA from January 2022 to January 2025 were selected. All patients underwent tumor resection and defect repair, and were divided into an experimental group and a control group according to the different flap repair methods, with 103 cases in each group. The control group was treated with the traditional forearm flap repair technique, while the experimental group was treated with the modified forearm flap repair technique. The clinical indicators, repair effect, oral function, donor site recovery, hematological indicators, and flap survival rate and postoperative complications were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in operation time, postoperative hospital stay, oral feeding time, and vascular anastomosis time between the two groups(P>0.05); the flap area in the experimental group was significantly smaller than that in the control group(P<0.05). The effective repair rate in the experimental group(91.26%) was significantly higher than that in the control group(80.58%, P<0.05). The scores of speech function, appearance status, mouth opening, oral closure, eating status, occlusal function, masticatory function, and swallowing function in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group(P<0.05). The proportions of patients with no persistent numbness in the forearm surgical area and the superficial branch of the radial nerve in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group(P<0.05). After surgery, the levels of SA, sIL-2R, and CRP in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in flap survival rate, flap crisis rate, or total complication rate between the two groups(P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The modified forearm flap repair technique is superior to the traditional technique in terms of flap area control, repair effect, oral function recovery, donor site nerve protection, and immune-inflammatory regulation, and has comparable safety. It is worthy of clinical promotion.

Key words: Oral and maxillofacial tumors, Forearm flap, Defect repair, Donor site recovery, Skin sensory function