Aim
The aim of the work was to study the effect of repair of cleft lip alone and repair of AQ8
cleft lip with simultaneous repair of cleft hard palate with vomerine flap in unilateral
complete cleft lip and palate (UCCLP).
Patients and methods
This study was carried out on 20 patients with UCCLP. Patients were classified into
two groups: group A included 10 patients treated with simultaneous repair of the
cleft lip with repair of alveolus and anterior portion of hard palate with vomerine flap,
and after 12 weeks patients underwent repair of cleft soft palate; group B included
10 patients treated with cleft lip repair only, and after 12 weeks patients underwent
repair of entire cleft hard and soft palates.
Results
Patient’s age in group A ranged from 3 to 7 months (mean age: 4.65 months),
whereas patient’s age in group B ranged from 3 to 6 months (mean age: 4.55
months), with male predominance of about 65% (13) patients in the study. The
mean operation time for group A was 81 min, whereas for group B it was 46.5 min.
The mean reduction of the cleft alveolar gap between first and second operation in
group A was 3.95 mm, whereas in group B it was 2.25 mm. Group A developed two
cases of minor hemorrhage stopped with compression, one case of oronasal fistula
of small size, and a case of whistle deformity, whereas in group B there was one
case of massive hemorrhage stopped with cauterization and two cases of large
oronasal fistula.
Conclusion
This study found that simultaneous repair of cleft lip and hard palate using vomerine
flap in patients with UCCLP is a suitable and effective procedure, as it reduces cleft
alveolar gap significantly and reduces the chance of complications and oronasal
fistula formation. |
