Strategies to Evaluate Bilateral Cleft Lip Treatment

Evaluate treatment of patients with bilateral cleft lip operated during the last 10 years, using the methodology of Mortier and Anastassov.

A total of 84 patients were evaluated using a preoperative score assessing fissure severity and a postsurgical score assessing of uncorrected or secondary deformities. A pre- and postcorrelation analysis was performed to evaluate the gain and identify the main postoperative alterations, using Spearman's statistical test (P < 0.001).

About 89.3% underwent surgery between 4 and 7 months. Surgical techniques used Millard 65.5% and Mulliken 34.5%. Presurgical evaluation classified fissures as mild (0%), moderate (2.4%), severe (19.1%), or very severe (78.6%). Postoperative evaluation classified results as poor (24%), satisfactory (12%), good (15, 6%), very good (34.6%), or excellent (14.3%). The postoperative changes on the lip were the notch in the vermilion and the defect in the edge of the vermilion, and in the bow of the wide cupid; in the nose, the most frequent were deficiency in the upper nasal nostril, insufficient rotation of the alar base, broad tip, and short columella; in the scar and alveolar portion, the most frequent were alveolar cleft, premaxilla protrusion, and poor scar. Spearman correlation of preoperative and postoperative was positive of 0.43.

The proposed measurement method is technically simple and can be performed without equipment allowing pre- and postoperative evaluation to identify the main alterations to be corrected.