The Use of Silicone Foley Catheter as Tissue Expander for Intraoral Alveolar Defect

Abstract

Background: Soft tissue expansion is a common procedure in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. This technique has several advantages in the head and neck area it provides tissue with similar color, texture, thickness, and no need for the donor site. In recent year’s intraoral mucosal expansion used to allow sufficient volume to receive bone graft and direct closure in tension free manners.

Patients and Methods: Six patients with alveolar ridge deficiencies were included in this study. The patients' ages ranged from 18 to 37. Between September 2019 and January 2022, the study was done in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department at Alwasity Teaching Hospital. Silicone Foley Catheter with normal saline inflating material used as tissue expansion to form new oral mucosa.

Result: For all cases, expansion was continuous between 4 to 6 weeks depending on the needed volume for bone graft, then the iliac bone grafting procedure was performed simultaneously during the removal of the Foley catheter. All patients followed up for 18 months, and we revealed sufficient bone available vertically and horizontally.

Conclusion: Silicone Foley Catheters are a simple, available, low cost device, with the simple surgical application used effectively in the area with soft and hard tissue deficiencies to reconstruct the oral cavity.