Soft palate resection and secondary healing not to impair the velopharyngeal function? – Diagnosis and treatment of an intraoral schwannoma: A case report

INTRODUCTION: Schwannomas are benign lesions arising from the nerve sheath, commonly located in the head and neck. Intraoral schwannomas mostly occur in tongue and lips and are rarely located in the soft palate. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We describe the diagnostic assessment and treatment of 18-year old male presenting with an intraoral mass on the soft palate. DISCUSSION: The treatment of choice in peripheral nerve sheath tumors is conservative resection and due to location and impairment, reconstruction. Secondary healing of soft palate defects is rarely described in the literature. CONCLUSION: With this case report, we demonstrate the feasibility of secondary healing after resection of a 3,0 × 1,9 × 2,1 cm schwannoma in the soft palate, resulting in no postoperative impairments, especially due to velopharyngeal function in a follow-up period of 2 months.