Secondary Deformities Due to Unilateral Cleft Lip Repair

Patients with primary cleft lip deformities are almost always being operated within the first year of their life. Different factors may ultimately distort the preliminary surgical result. Some of these factors are inaccurate surgical design, primary tissue anomalies and effect of rapid growth. Consequently, the correction of this secondary deformities is an integral part in survey of such patients. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between common surgical techniques for primary repair and the incidence of secondary deformities. This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 30 patient with secondary deformities of unilateral cleft lip repair. Secondary deformities and technique of primary repair were checked in each patient and data were analyzed by Chi-square test. The common techniques of primary lip repair were rotation advancement (43%) and straight line repair (43%). Deformities of vermilion (malalignment & deficiency) were the most common secondary deformities (53%). In this regards, short lip deformity was more frequent in straight line repair than rotation advancement repair(P<0.05). The obtained results clarify that the prevalence and the type of secondary deformities depend on primary surgical procedures. The ideal time to address secondary deformities is at the time of initial operation, when every effort should be made to prevent them