%0 Journal Article
%T Patient-reported outcomes after oral cancer reconstructions with radial and ulnar forearm-free flaps.
%A Al-Aroomi MA
%A Al-Worafi NA
%A Ma Y
%A Alkebsi K
%A Mohamed AAS
%A Jiang C
%J Oral Dis
%V 0
%N 0
%D 2024 May 2
%M 38696366
%F 4.068
%R 10.1111/odi.14968
%X <B>OBJECTIVE: </B>This study aimed to evaluate patient-reported quality of life and incidence of decision regret in patients undergoing radial (RFFF) and ulnar forearm-free flaps (UFFF) reconstruction.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>Patients undergoing either RFFF or UFFF were assessed with the University of Washington Quality of Life (UW-QOL) and Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) questionnaires, and the Decision Regret Scale (DRS), both before and at least 12 months post-reconstruction.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>In total, 40 RFFF and 40 UFFF were included. Harvesting time was longer in RFFF (p = 0.043), and the donor-site defect was significantly larger in RFFF than in UFFF (p = 0.044). Patients with UFFF scored better UW-QOL in the appearance, pain, activity, mood, and social functioning domains (p < 0.05). However, the RFFF group excelled in swallowing and chewing domains. The DRS score revealed a significant difference between RFFF and UFFF, with scores of 36.26 versus 27.36, respectively. Moreover, the mean DRS score reduced at 12 months compared with 6 months, significantly superior for UFFF.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Oral cancer patients reconstructed with UFFF exhibited a better appearance, social domain, and mild decision regret compared with RFFF, indicating that the UFFF may contribute to improving postoperative quality of life in oral cancer patients.