Shyamsundar K. Joshi1, Muralidhar G. Kamalapur2, Abhijit S. Joshi3, Kaveri Hallikeri4
INTRODUCTION
Ultrasound in head and neck region is mainly used to evaluate salivary glands, thyroid glands, and cervical lymph nodes. Being a versatile imaging modality, its use can be extended to evaluate maxillofacial region. Buccal mucosa is an important structure in the maxillofacial region as malignancy in this region is on the alarming rise in both developing and developed countries. Diagnosing malignancy at an early stage yields good prognosis. In this study, we discuss: 1) Ultrasound anatomy of buccal mucosa and evaluation techniques. 2) Evaluation of early buccal mucosal cancer on ultrasound. 3) Evaluate the extent of reliability of ultrasound, and its limitations in buccal mucosal cancers.
