ABSTRACT
The tongue plays a vital role in daily life including speech, swallowing, breathing, and mastication. Most tongue defects are a result of surgical resected carcinomas, specifically squamous cell carcinoma; although, traumatic defects are not uncommonly seen following gunshot wounds. The tongue is intimately related to the mandible, dentition, neck, and larynxmaking it difficult to assess one areawithout considerationof the effect on the other. Not only does the tongue function in speech and swallowing, but protection of the airway, taste, andbreathing canbe affected by the loss of tongue function.As swallowing begins in the oral cavity, sensation provides important cues to coordinate respiration with speech and swallowing, maintain oral competence, sweep the bolus to the oropharynx, and trigger protective laryngeal reflexes. The ideal tongue reconstruction would provide identical size, shape, sensation, taste, mobility, and coordinated articulation and swallowing function in a single procedure. Unfortunately, this option does not yet exist although animal models of tongue transplantation (1), free tissue transfer advances (2), and historic efforts at creating a ‘‘new tongue’’ (3) provide a framework upon which the reconstructive surgeon can enhance future research and surgical techniques.
