The Evolution of Unilateral Cleft Lip Repair

Cleft Lip Repair and Primary and Intermediate Cleft Rhinoplasties

The cleft lip is one of the most common craniofacial abnormalities seen worldwide. The lip and primary rhinoplasty repairs are performed together in a single surgery for patients aged 3 to 6 months. The intermediate rhinoplasty has fallen out of favor due to more advanced approaches at primary rhinoplasty. However, it still plays a role in addressing severe nasal airway obstruction or correcting anatomic differences causing emotional distress from social ridicule. The article reviews the incidence of cleft lip, discusses its development and variant anatomy, and examines the approaches to surgical repair of the cleft clip, primary and intermediate rhinoplasties.

An ex vivo model for education and training of unilateral cleft lip surgery

BACKGROUND

Unilateral cleft lip surgery is a complex procedure, and the outcome depends highly on the surgeon's experience. Digital simulations and low-fidelity models seem inadequate for effective surgical education and training. There are only few realistic models for haptic simulation of cleft surgery, which are all based on synthetic materials that are costly and complex to produce. Hence, they are not fully available to train and educate surgical trainees. This study aims to develop an inexpensive, widely available, high-fidelity, ex vivo model of a unilateral cleft lip using a porcine snout disc.

METHODS

A foil template was manufactured combining anatomical landmarks of the porcine snout disc and the anatomical situation of a child with a unilateral cleft. This template was used to create an ex vivo model of a unilateral cleft lip from the snout disc. Millard II technique was applied on the model to proof its suitability. The individual steps of the surgical cleft closure were photo-documented and three-dimensional scans of the model were analysed digitally. Sixteen surgical trainees were instructed to create a unilateral cleft model and perform a unilateral lip plasty. Their self-assessment was evaluated by means of a questionnaire.

RESULTS

The porcine snout disc proved highly suitable to serve as a simulation model for unilateral cleft lip surgery. Millard II technique was successfully performed as we were able to perform all steps of unilateral cleft surgery, including muscle suturing. The developed foil-template is reusable on any porcine snout disc. The creation of the ex vivo model is simple and inexpensive. Self-assessment of the participants showed a strong increase in comprehension and an eagerness to use the model for surgical training.

CONCLUSIONS

A porcine snout disc ex vivo model of unilateral cleft lips was developed successfully. It shows many advantages, including a haptic close to human tissue, multiple layers, low cost, and wide and rapid availability. It is therefore very suitable for teaching and training beginners in cleft surgery and subsequently improving surgical skills and knowledge. Further research is needed to finally assess the ex vivo model's value in different stages of the curriculum of surgical residency.

Modified Placement of C-flap in Unilateral Cleft Lip Repair to Avoid Alar Base Scar - A Retrospective Study

Introduction

In spite of several techniques, Millard's approach for the correction of cleft lip still is widely used. Although versatile, it has certain drawbacks including scar contraction, short lip and notching. A modification of the 'C' arm helps to address this drawback. The purpose of this study was to describe the qualitative and quantitative outcomes of the author's modification of Millard's C flap.

Materials and Methods

Archival photographic records of cleft lip repairs and post-operative photos of cases treated by author were screened. Anthropometric measurements of the height and width of the lip, the height of the vermilion and the width of the alar base were considered. The outcome was quantified by comparing the ratio of each feature between the cleft and normal sides. The quality of cleft lip repair was assessed using the Steffensen criteria. Appropriate statistical tests were performed.

Results

In all, 233 cases with a mean age of 4.46 ± 0.91 years and 106 (45.5%) males formed the study group. The mean lip height ratio was 0.936 ± 0.04, the mean lip width ratio was 0.938 ± 0.037, the mean vermillion height ratio was 0.9433 ± 0.35 while the mean alar base width ratio was 0.932 ± 0.35. The physical parameter ratios' mean difference between the normal side and the cleft side was below 0.06 mm.

Discussion

The mechanism behind the drawback of the classical Millard's technique is discussed and compared with present modification. The authors' modification shows that modified Millard's technique produces better aesthetic outcomes.

Current trends in unilateral cleft lip repair

The purpose of this review is to provide an in-depth look at the current perioperative and intraoperative practices for unilateral cleft lip repair. The contemporary literature reveals trends towards incorporation of curvilinear and geometric hybrid lip repairs. Perioperative practices are trending in new directions as well with the use of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols to reduce morbidity and length of stay, continued use of nasoalveolar molding, and a tendency to favor outpatient repair with more utilization of same day surgery centers. There is much room for growth, with new and exciting technologies on the horizon to improve upon cosmesis, functionality, and the operative experience.