Background: Cleft lip and cleft palate are one of the most common congenital craniofacial abnormalities in the skull and face. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of complications after primary cleft palate repair surgery, performed on patients referred to a children's hospital, and to use the information and results obtained from it to reduce the complications and improve the results of these surgeries.
Methods: In this cross-sectional-analytical study, using a census sampling method, the medical records of 94 consecutive cleft palate patients treated in Abuzar Hospital in Ahvaz, southern Iran, in the years 2019 to 2021 were studied. The rate of postoperative complications during the first week in terms of wound opening and flap necrosis and one month later in terms of fistula formation after surgery were also extracted from the files.
Results: Ninety-four patients with congenital cleft palate (57.4% male and 42.6% female) were enrolled. The gap width in all studied patients was 14 ± 5 mm. The frequency of complications of surgical wound opening, flap necrosis, oronasal fistula and hypernasality in von Langenbeck group was 9.5%, 0.15% and 28.1% respectively, and in Bardach group was 9.5 %, 15% and 33.3% respectively.
Conclusion: There were no significant differences between the two surgical methods in terms of postoperative complications. Besides, what is important in choosing a surgical method is the patient's clinical condition, the surgeon's experience and skill, and his choice.
Keywords: Cleft lip; Cleft palate; Craniofacial Abnormalities; Palatoplasty.