Surgically excising an intraoral schwannoma of the soft palate using a buccinator flap: A case report

INTRODUCTION: Schwannomas are benign tumors derived from Schwann cells. However, schwannomas in the soft palate is considered rare. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We report a case of a 17-year-old girl who presented with a 20-mm nodular lesion in the soft palate. After surgical resection, a buccinator musculomucosal flap was used for soft palate reconstruction. At 6 months post-operation, velopharyngeal insufficiency was not observed. DISCUSSION: In this report, palatal muscles are examined, and the necessity of palatal muscle preservation and reconstruction of the defect in the soft palate mucosa after surgical resection of a schwannoma in the soft palate is presented. CONCLUSION: Following resection of an approximately 20 × 19-mm-sized schwannoma of the soft palate, which is a relatively rare site of occurrence for schwannomas, we performed reconstruction of the defect using a BMMF to prevent scar contracture. This was an effective method of reconstruction in consideration of velopharyngeal function.