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Published on: September 19, 2015
The Impact of Facial Growth in Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Treated With 2 Different Protocols
Ling Siew Wong1, Ting Chen Lu2, Duong Thi Diem Hang3
1From the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Hospital Sibu, Sibu, Malaysia.
Background And Aim:
It is well known that palatoplasty can often cause disturbances in maxillary growth. The use of a single-layer vomer flap for the early closure of the hard palate is controversy among surgeons. The aim of this study is to compare the 10-year facial growth of 2 surgical protocols in the treatment of patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate performed by a single surgeon.
Methods:
This retrospective analysis includes 43 nonsyndromic patients with complete unilateral cleft lip with or without a vomer flap for the closure of the hard palate during cleft-lip repair. Lateral cephalograms were obtained at the age of 5, 7, and 9 years old, and angular measurements were used to assess patient's facial growth. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare 2 treatment protocol groups.
Result:
A total of 23 patients in protocol 1 group (16 male, 7 female) and 20 patients in protocol 2 group (10 male, 10 female) were included. At the age of 5 and 7, there was no significant difference of maxillary and mandibular growth in both groups. At the age of 9 years, all the angular measurement revealed statistical significance with SNA (P = 0.02), SNB (P = 0.05), ANB (P < 0.01), and SNPg (P = 0.05).
Conclusions:
The present study has shown that early anterior palate repair for 3-month-old cleft patients have better maxillary growth and less mandibular prognathism.
