The Treatment of Unilateral Comple Cleft Lip Using Lip Adhesion.

Park, Dae Hwan; Song, Chul Hong; Ahn, Ki Young; Han, Dong Gil

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons 1999;26(5):844-848.
Published online September 1, 1999.

The Treatment of Unilateral Comple Cleft Lip Using Lip Adhesion.

Dae Hwan Park, Chul Hong Song, Ki Young Ahn, Dong Gil Han

Abstract

It is difficult to treat the complete cleft lip because of wide cleft and malaligned alveolar process, outward rotation of greater(medial) alveolar segment, and severe nasal deformity. Lip adhesion without presurgical orthopedic appliance was performed on 8 consecutive infants with unilateral complete cleft of the primary palate before denfinitive lip repair with Millard I procedure. Among 8 patients, 6 patients had complete unilateral cleft lip with alveolar cleft only and 2 patients were accompanied with complete cleft palate. All patients had more than a 10-mm-wide lip cleft with alveolar arch discrepancy. Lip adhesions were performed at 1-2 months of age and definitive repair was done at 5-6 months of age. Lip adhesions were performed by Randall's method and cheiloplasty was done by Millard I technique. Satisfactory results of lip and nose were obtained aesthetically in 8 cases after an average follow-up of 32 months. The vertical height of the medial and lateral lip segment were a symmetric appearance, while the vermilion tubercle, philtrum, and Cupid's bow were natural. Disadvantages included increased operating time and the sacrifice of same-lip tissue. In conclusion, preliminary lip adhesion can have better functional, esthetic and emotional results since the disadvantages are minor compared to the advantages.