J Korean Soc Plast Reconstr Surg.  1999 Sep;26(5):844-848.

The Treatment of Unilateral Comple Cleft Lip Using Lip Adhesion

• Park DH
• Song CH
• Ahn KY
• Han DG

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.

MeSH Terms

Alveolar Process
Cleft Lip*
Cleft Palate
Congenital Abnormalities
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Infant
Lip*
Nose
Orthopedics
Palate