Strategies to Evaluate Bilateral Cleft Lip Treatment

Area of Science:

• Plastic Surgery
• Craniofacial Surgery
• Pediatric Surgery

Background:

• Bilateral cleft lip repair requires precise evaluation of surgical outcomes.
• Existing assessment methods may lack simplicity or require specialized equipment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the treatment outcomes of patients with bilateral cleft lip.
• To assess the efficacy of the Mortier and Anastassov methodology for pre- and postoperative evaluation.
• To identify common postoperative alterations in bilateral cleft lip repair.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective evaluation of 84 patients undergoing bilateral cleft lip repair.
• Application of preoperative and postoperative scoring systems to assess fissure severity and deformities.
• Spearman's correlation analysis to determine the relationship between preoperative and postoperative scores.

Main Results:

• Most surgeries (89.3%) occurred between 4-7 months, primarily using Millard (65.5%) and Mulliken (34.5%) techniques.
• Presurgical evaluation revealed a high prevalence of severe (19.1%) and very severe (78.6%) fissures.
• Postoperative results ranged from poor (24%) to excellent (14.3%), with common alterations including vermilion notch, cupid's bow defects, nasal asymmetry, and alveolar clefts.
• A positive correlation (0.43) was found between preoperative and postoperative assessments.

Conclusions:

• The Mortier and Anastassov methodology provides a technically simple, equipment-free approach for evaluating bilateral cleft lip repair.
• This method facilitates objective pre- and postoperative assessment to guide corrective strategies.
• The study identified specific common lip, nose, and alveolar deformities requiring attention post-surgery.