Tongue surgery is almost always complicated by intraoperative bleeding. Its rich blood supply especially from the lingual vessels makes the operative field bloody. Electrocautery has been widely used to replace cold scissors in order to achieve better hemostasis. The use of ultrasonic harmonic scalpel for glossectomy is still new in this country. We report a case of partial glossectomy using the harmonic scalpel in a patient who had a squamous cell carcinoma of the lateral border of the tongue.
Fifty patients with temporomandibular pain dysfunction syndrome were examined. Seventy-eight percent and 32 percent were female and male respectively. The white collar workers were more frequently affected. Emotional stress, dental malocclusion and a history of trauma were the main causes. Treatment consists of reassurance, relaxed jaw movements and exercises, anxiolytic drugs, thermotherapy, biting appliance, occlusal adjustments and restoration of lost dental units.
Lipoblastomas are benign tumours of immature fat cells presenting in infancy. A lipoblastoma within the airway lumen causing airway compromise is an extremely rare occurrence. We present a 6 hours of life girl who had airway compromise due to a lobulated mass at the base of the tongue. The mass was excised after emergency endotracheal intubation.