Parent satisfaction with primary repair of paediatric cleft lip in Southwest China

Primary cheilorhinoseptoplasty using the Talmant protocol in unilateral complete cleft lip: functional and aesthetic results on nasal correction and comparison with the Tennison-Malek protocol

Many surgical procedures used to treat patients with unilateral complete cleft lip do not include a complete primary rhinoseptoplasty, which is delayed until the end of growth as part of secondary surgery. Primary cheilorhinoseptoplasty using the Talmant technique has been performed at Lapeyronie University Hospital, Montpellier for 15 years. This retrospective study evaluated and compared the functional and aesthetic results obtained in such patients at 4-6 years after surgery with those obtained without primary rhinoseptoplasty in patients undergoing the Tennison-Malek technique. This study included a cohort of 60 children who presented a unilateral complete cleft lip: 29 were operated on with the Tennison-Malek technique and 31 with the Talmant technique. Three functional and 14 aesthetic criteria were evaluated. All functional criteria showed better results in the Talmant group: nocturnal nasal breathing (P < 0.001), incidence of closed rhinolalia (P = 0.0019), and presence of asymmetric nasal breathing (P < 0.001). Concerning the aesthetic results, all criteria evaluated on the frontal and basal photographs of each patient showed significantly better results in the Talmant technique group. The rate of satisfactory results was> 75% for 12 of the 14 criteria in the Talmant group, compared with none of the 14 criteria in the Tennison-Malek group.

Caregiver-Reported Outcomes and Barriers to Care among Patients with Cleft Lip and Palate

BACKGROUND

For children with cleft lip and/or palate, access to care is vital for optimizing speech, appearance, and psychosocial outcomes. The authors posited that inadequate access to care negatively impacts outcomes in this population.

METHODS

Sixty caregivers of children with cleft lip and palate were surveyed to assess perceived barriers using the validated Barriers to Care questionnaire. The questionnaire includes 39 items divided into five subscales, with higher scores indicating fewer barriers. Caregiver-reported outcomes were assessed using the Cleft Evaluation Profile, which captures cleft-specific appearance- and speech-related outcomes. Higher scores correspond to less satisfactory outcomes. Desire for revision surgery was assessed as a binary outcome among caregivers. Multivariable regression was used to evaluate the relationship of barriers to care, caregiver-reported outcomes, and desire for revision, adjusting for clinical and demographic covariates.

RESULTS

Sixty percent of caregivers perceived barriers to care, and caregivers who reported poorer access to care described poorer cleft-related outcomes (r = 0.19, p = 0.024). Caregivers with poorer skills (r = 0.17, p = 0.037), expectations (r = 0.17, p = 0.045), and pragmatics (r = 0.18, p = 0.026) subscale scores were associated with worse Cleft Evaluation Profile scores. Barriers were also negatively associated with aesthetic item scores (r = 0.11, p = 0.025). Finally, caregivers reporting fewer barriers were 21.2 percent less likely to express interest in revision surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

Barriers to care were associated with poorer appearance-related outcomes and increased interest in revision among caregivers of cleft patients. Enhancing access to care is critical in order to effectively meet goals of care for these families.

Gingival esthetics and oral health-related quality of life in patients with cleft lip and palate

While the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) is known to be reduced in patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP), its inter-dependency with the soft tissue characteristics of the CLP area remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the soft tissue characteristics in the treated cleft area in order to investigate whether gingival esthetics correlate with OHRQoL. Thirty-six patients with unilateral or bilateral CLP (46 cleft areas) were investigated after secondary/tertiary alveolar bone grafting and orthodontic/prosthetic implant treatment using an adapted score to rate gingival esthetics (clinical esthetic score, CES). The patient's OHRQoL was determined using the German short version of the Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire (OHIP-G14). The results showed a significantly better rating in patients with their own teeth in situ (12.05±1.10) than in patients with implants (6.95±4.78) or prosthetics (4.00±3.58). The best OHRQoL values were achieved by patients with their own teeth integrated into the cleft area (1.32±2.31), followed by patients with implants (2.33±2.33) and prosthetics (3.75±5.87). A significant (P=0.017) correlation was found between OHIP-G14 and CES scores, suggesting an increased OHRQoL in cases with higher oral esthetics in the cleft area. The therapeutic strategy contributes to both gingival esthetics and OHRQoL. The patient's subjective perception of OHRQoL can be attributed to objective gingival esthetic ratings.