Occurrence of oronasal fistulas in operated cleft palate patients

Oronasal fistulas, a troublesome complication, often occur after cleft palate repair. Seventy-three patients in a series of 346 cases of cleft palate (21%) were found to have fistulas, most located at the junction of hard and soft palate (42%). Langenbeck's method of cleft palate repair resulted in more fistulas than Wardill's method. Fistulas occurred more frequently in bilateral clefts than in the unilateral type. Nasality was found to be the most common symptom in patients with oronasal fistulas. No treatment was needed for 17 patients, 10 were given obturators, and surgical repair was performed in 46. Treatment was totally successful in 56% of the patients and partially so in 34%.