Surgical Technique for Whistler Deformity Repair in Bilateral Cleft Lip Patients: An Anthropometric Study

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the surgical outcome of secondary bilateral cleft lips after using a surgical technique for whistler deformity repair.

A prospective cohort study of one surgeon's outcome of 38 consecutive performed bilateral whistler deformity repairs was conducted.

Data from the Outreach Surgical Center Program, Lima, Peru, were used.

Thirty-eight patients with lip deformity related to unsatisfactory bilateral cleft lip repair were operated on using the proposed surgical technique since 2008. All these patients met the study criterion of having anthropometric measurements performed at least 1 year postoperatively.

Measurement of lip height, lip width, vermilion height, cupid bow, and nasal base width was performed at the right and left side of the lip, preoperatively and at least 1 year postoperatively.

The matched pair t test analyses were performed when the assumptions required were met. When the normality assumption was not met, the Wilcoxon signed rank test, a nonparametric test was used to assess the statistical significance of differences between the studied sample and control group.

The study found statistically significant differences between the preoperatory and control groups in most of the lip measurements. In addition, we have found statistically significant differences between the preoperatory and postoperatory groups in most of the anthropometric lip measurements, in favor of the second group, after lip repair using the proposed technique and measured at least 1 year postoperatively.

The findings suggest that the proposed technique is a good alternative to address the whistler deformity related to the bilateral cleft lip primary repair.