Buccal pad of fat as interpositional material in oral submucous fibrosis - A systematic review

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of buccal fat pad as interpositioning material in surgical management of oral submucous fibrosis. Search strategy: Used Medline, Pubmed, Mesh. English literature articles and human trials were searched for. Selection criterias: Articles were selected which used Buccal Pad Fat after fibrotomy for management of oral submucous fibrosis. Non randomised single interventions and retrospective trials were selected. Data collection and analysis: The primary outcome was assessment of postoperative mouth opening as compared to preoperative mouth opening using buccal pad of fat as interpositional material after fibrotomy in oral submucous fibrosis management in the experimental group in parallel design studies. Analyses were undertaken for the items assessed for quality and publication bias. Results: The primary outcome of the review to assess the postoperative mouth opening compared to preoperative mouth opening using buccal pad of fat as interpositional material after fibrotomy in oral submucous fibrosis. Secondary outcomes included assessment of recurrence, time taken for epithelisation, donor site morbidity. Four trials provided data for this review. No studies fulfil all the methodological quality assessment criteria. Conclusion: The data shows significant increase in mouth opening postoperatively with use of buccal pad of fat as interpositional material after fibrotomy in oral submucous fibrosis. No sufficient evidence of studies to prove that buccal pad is most reliable interpositional material for buccal mucosa reconstruction in oral submucous fibrosis due to heterogeneity in studies and lack of randomised controlled trials to reach to a concrete conclusion.