Recurrence rate of repaired hard palate oronasal fistula with conchal cartilage graft

After cleft palate repair, oronasal fistula (ONF) formation is one of the considerable and troublesome complications. Conchal cartilage graft is one option that can be used in recurrent fistula correction. The aim of the current study is investigating the recurrence rate of the hard palate ONF or ONF at the junction of hard and soft palate after utilizing conchal cartilage graft and comparing this rate with other methods.

In this observational prospective study, 29 patients suffering from ONF with small, medium and large sizes who were referring to Alzahra university hospital, Isfahan, Iran and Fateme Zahra university hospital, Tehran, Iran between November 2011 and November 2012 were enrolled. All patients had midline cleft palate, 29.6% of them had cleft lip too that was repaired previously. All patients were followed-up for 2 years (every 2 months) after repair.

The mean (range) age of studied samples was 10.7 (2-23) years. 16 patients (55.7%) were female, and reminders were male. During 2 years followup, we detected recurrence of ONF in 6 patients (20.68%) and the success rate was 79.32%. The recurrence rate, after applying the current approach, among who experienced the several times of recurrence was significantly higher than among those who experienced first time of recurrence (33.3% vs. 7.1%; P < 0.001). The mean [±SD] age of failed and successfully repaired patients were 11.3 (±4.5) and 8.4 (±5.25) years, respectively (P > 0.1).

Using of conchal cartilage graft for recurrent ONF with ≤1 cm was safe and efficacious, in ONF >1 cm conchal cartilage graft can be used as a primary method and if recurrence occurred chooses other complex procedure.