Today we dealt with two complcations-postop bleeds after hemimandibulectomy and splenectomy. These incidents show us we are fallible-even when we want to believe we are not. Both patients are doing well now-Imela Chineke (Thank God).
The big surgery of the day was excision of a right maxillary tumor in a 15 year-old boy. The tumor had growing for 5 years and distorted his face. I suspected it was
fibrous dysplasia or ossifying fibroma. The tumor was so large it had completely eroded the anterior maxillary bone and part of the orbital floor.
Fortunately, enough of the orbital floor is intact that I do not think the eye will not sink into maxillary space as has happened to a patient named Mary Sunday. In the USA, a prosthesis would be used to solve these problems but they are not available in Nigeria. In most cases, we get a very good cosmetic result (such as
Esther) if the zygomatic arch and the orbital floor are intact since these support the skin flap.
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| Esther |
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| Mary Sunday |
