PubMed · 11879082
Modifying the two-stage cleft palate surgical correction.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This paper reports the experience with a two-stage approach to surgical correction of the complete cleft palate, wherein timing of the second stage is dependent on the judgment of the speech pathologist and the orthodontist together with the surgeon. PATIENTS: Of a total of 35 patients having complete unilateral clefts a sample of 22 were available for postsurgical assessment. The first-stage repair of the palate was carried out at an average age of 10.7 months (range 6 to 17 months), and the second-stage repair of the residual cleft was completed at an average age of 32.7 months (range 26 to 34 months). INTERVENTIONS: The first-stage repair of the soft palate defect involved mobilizing two short posteriorly based flaps, which extend onto the posterior quarter of the hard palate thus including up to 1 cm of mucoperiosteum. Careful freeing of the muscle is followed by an intravelar veloplasty. The later closure of the residual cleft involved turnover hinge flaps and small mucoperiosteal flaps. RESULTS: Eighty-seven percent of the sample had good to excellent speech as assessed by the Great Ormond Street screening method. Only two patients showed evidence of recessive maxillae with Class III malocclusions. CONCLUSIONS: A two-stage surgical closure of the palate using this procedure would appear to confer several valuable advantages to the patient. These include favorable outcomes for speech in the large majority of cases and minimal adverse effects on the growth of the midface region.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Explore connections, maps & timelines
Laurence Chait, Gerald Gavron, Cathy Graham, Errol Noik, Gavin De Aguiar. 2002. Modifying the two-stage cleft palate surgical correction.. https://doi.org/10.1597/1545-1569_2002_039_0226_mttscp_2.0.co_2
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.