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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Method of Studying Palatal Fusion using Static Organ Culture
Published on: September 19, 2015
[Clinical analysis of cleft lip and palate repair at the same time on 468 infants]
Shi-zhang Fu1, Hai-yan Lei, Hua Yuan
1Cosmetic and Plastic Department, Jiangxi Women and Children Hospital, Nanchang 330006, China.
Insights
Simultaneously repairing cleft lip and palate in infants shows promise for clear pronunciation but carries risks like dyspnea and uvular incision rupture. Careful anesthesia is crucial for successful outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric surgery
- Craniofacial anomalies
- Surgical outcomes
Context:
- Cleft lip and palate (CLP) are common congenital conditions requiring surgical intervention.
- Simultaneous repair aims to address both lip and palate defects in a single procedure during infancy.
- Evaluating the feasibility, benefits, and drawbacks of this approach is essential for clinical practice.
Purpose:
- To assess the feasibility, merits, and shortcomings of simultaneously repairing cleft lip and palate in infants.
- To retrospectively review outcomes of 468 infants undergoing simultaneous CLP repair.
- To evaluate long-term pronunciation results compared to sequential repair.
Summary:
- Simultaneous cleft lip and palate repair in 468 infants demonstrated effective treatment with clear pronunciation in 115/168 followed cases.
- Complications included dyspnea (20.1%), uvular incision rupture (15.6%), and rare severe events like anesthetic-related brain injury and malignant hyperthermia.
- Despite risks, the procedure offers advantages for speech development, highlighting the importance of meticulous anesthesia.
Impact:
- This study provides critical data on the risks and benefits of simultaneous infant cleft lip and palate repair.
- Findings underscore the need for vigilant perioperative management, particularly regarding respiratory complications and anesthesia.
- The results inform surgical decision-making and highlight areas for improving patient safety and functional outcomes in pediatric craniofacial surgery.
Objective:
To study the feasibility, merit and shortcoming of simultaneously repairing cleft lip and palate during the infancy.
Methods:
468 infants with cleft lip and palate repaired simultaneously in our department from 1995 to 2004 were reviewed retrospectively, as well as the cases repaired three years before were followed up and evaluated in pronunciation.
Results:
468 infants with cleft lip and palate were effectively treated simultaneously, associated with 173 had complications and 1 died after operation. 94 cases appeared dyspnea (20.1%), 74 cases had ruptured incision in palate including 63 cases in uvula, 2 cases infected in clip incision, 1 case got paralytic brain for lack of oxygen during the anesthesia, 2 cases ran malignant high fever including 1 dying of it, 1 case bled excessively after iodoform gauze pulled out. Among the 168 cases followed up relative to 278 who had treated three years before, 115 cases got clear pronunciation, 48 cases were next and 5 cases' pronunciation were unclear.
Conclusions:
Repairing cleft lip and palate simultaneously during the infancy has high rates of dyspnea and ruptured incision in uvula, though which contributes to clear pronunciation and has other merits, and perfect anesthesia is important to success in operation.
