Primary Repair of Bilateral Cleft Lip Deformity and Absent Prolabium With a Full-Thickness Skin Graft

Bilateral cleft lip deformities makeup 10% of orofacial clefts and are uncommon when compared to unilateral cleft lip.1,2 These cleft deformities have significant physical and long-term psychosocial effects on not only the patient but their family. With bilateral cleft lip deformity, the cutaneous approximation of the lateral lip segments are dependent on a sufficient prolabium to reconstruct the philtrum.3,4 Deficient skin equates to tight midline closure and subsequent unsightly scarringIn the subclinical phenotype of bilateral cleft lip and palate, where the patient has an absent or deficient prolabium, achieving tension free closure in the primary surgical setting is a reconstructive dilemma.5 This clinical report describes the use of a full-thickness skin graft to reconstruct the philtrum in a 12-month-old boy with bilateral cleft lip deformity, absent prolabium, absent columella and absent nasal septum to provide an aesthetic subunit repair.