[Improvement on the individual operative design of unilateral cleft lip repair]

To study the difference of operative designs in unilateral cleft lip repair according to characteristic deformity of each patient with unilateral cleft lip.

The distance from both alar bases and midpoint of columella base to both peaks of Cupid's bow were consulted is equal as standard design model. The mark point and incision of individual unilateral cleft lip repair were designed using geometrical analysis.

The new operative design technique included that the end point of rotational incision should be inside of the cross point from the line dividing both Cupid's bow peaks and philtrum on the non-cleft side, and the other design was that the end point of alar base on the cleft side located at the cross point from the horizontal line that passed the midpoint of alar base on the non-cleft side to meet the alar base on the cleft side. Depending on the above thesis, the new operative methods were created for unilateral cleft lip repair. One of the new individual operative designs was similar with Millard's method in the shape of operative design, but there was a big difference on the principle of marking the columella base and alar base on the cleft side between individual operative designs and Millard's design. This new operative design only suit for unilateral cleft lip with symmetric distances from alar base to Cupid's bow peaks in both sides. Another individual operative design added a new incision on the cleft side comparing with the former individual operative design, which could be used in unilateral cleft lip when the distance from alar base to Cupid's bow peak on the cleft side was shorter than that on the non-cleft side.

The new individual operative designs of unilateral cleft lip repair have been created, and the important advantages of these new individual operative designs are that each marking point can been decided clearly according to special mathematical principles. Each operative design only suit for one type of unilateral cleft deformity, so the types of deformity in unilateral cleft lip can been also classified depending on the different distances from alar base to Cupid's bow peak between both sides. This classification of unilateral cleft lip only depends on operative designs, and these new individual operative designs of unilateral cleft lip repair are easy to be understanded and applied, as well as easy to obtain stable result after operation.