Bilateral buccal flaps with double opposing Z-plasty for wider palatal clefts

Described is a technique that has evolved from the challenges of closure of larger cleft palate defects and that we are now using in preference over other techniques to repair a wide variety of clefts. Soft-palate closure and muscular sling reconstruction are accomplished using a modified Furlow technique. An associated cleft of the hard palate and the gaps produced by posterior displacement of the reconstructed soft palate are closed by adding tissue, buccal flaps, rather than by closure under tension or leaving residual raw surfaces. Palate lengthening is achieved both by the Z-plasty effect and by the interposition of buccal flaps between the hard and soft palate. Seventy-six palates have been repaired using this procedure. There were three postoperative fistulas.