The Trotter procedure: a forgotten approach?

Anatomically, the surgical management of tongue base lesions is a challenging prospect for any head and neck surgeon. William Trotter described a median labio-mandibular glossotomy for access to such lesions (Meis JM, Enzinger FM. Myolipoma of soft tissue. Am J Surg Pathol 1991;15:121–5). Not widely reported, this approach still remains an important tool in the armamentarium of head and neck surgeons. We outline the use of this approach to remove a myolipoma from the tongue base.