Abstract: Objective: To investigate the effect of repair and reconstruction on the quality of life of patients with oral cancer after tumor resection. Methods: The postoperative patients with oral cancer who were reconstituted with the pectoralis major myocutaneous flap (PMM) and the free anterolateral thigh flap (ALT) were assessed respectively with the University of Washington Quality of Life Scale (UWQOL),Chinese version 4.0. After scoring,the data were analyzed to investigate the influence of age, sex, neck dissection, the extent of resection, mandibular central split approach, dental condition, and radiotherapy on the quality of life of patients. Results: The survey issued a total of 98 questionnaires, in which 85 questionnaires were recovered. The recovery rate was 86.7%. Among them, 40 patients (47%) was PMM flap, and 45 patients (53%) was ALT flap. In patients treated with the PMM flap, age, cervical lymph node dissection, mandibular central split approach, and radiotherapy significantly affected the quality of life of the patients. Whereas in patients treated with the ALT flap, age, sex, neck dissection, mandibular central split approach, and radiotherapy significantly affected the quality of life. Conclusion: The common factors affecting the quality of life in both groups were age, neck dissection, mandibular central split approach, and radiotherapy. Clinicians should give full consideration to the possible changes in the quality of life of patients for each step of the treatment.

Key words: Oral cancer, Quality of life, Scale, Flap