Abstract | OBJECTIVE: STUDY DESIGN: We evaluate surgical results using a retrospective, randomized, blinded surgical grading system. We describe a surgical technique designed to restore nasal symmetry in patients undergoing primary cleft-lip rhinoplasty. Patients were selected retrospectively. METHODS: A series of patients were identified with nasal asymmetry associated with cleft-lip deformity. All patients underwent cleft-lip repair with concurrent primary cleft-lip rhinoplasty. Patients who underwent alar base flap suspending suture (ABF-SS) were grouped and selected consecutively after a modification in the senior author's surgical technique. A control group was matched for age, sex, and cleft characteristics. Primary rhinoplasty was carried out concurrently for both study groups while undergoing unilateral cleft-lip repair. The control group did not undergo the described ABF-SS technique. All patients were operated on by the same surgeon over a period of 5 years. Surgical outcomes were evaluated by a panel including lay people as well as trained health care workers experienced in the critical evaluation of esthetic results after cleft-lip rhinoplasty. RESULTS: Forty-six records were reviewed of patients undergoing complete unilateral cleft-lip repair. After applying strict inclusion/exclusion criteria, nine patients underwent the described ABF-SS technique. All patients in the preoperative group had a clinically and statistically comparable degree of deformity (P > .05). There was a clinical and statistically significant improvement in nostril size, shape, symmetry, alar base symmetry, and nasal tip/dome symmetry for patients undergoing repair with the described technique compared with the control group. No clinical or statistically significant difference was observed in the scarring scores between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Patients presenting with cleft-lip deformity usually present with a characteristic nasal deformity. Execution of the described surgical techniques restores nasal alar symmetry in patients undergoing concurrent primary cleft-lip rhinoplasty.
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Authors | William Numa, Kyle Eberlin, Usama S Hamdan |
Journal | The Laryngoscope
(Laryngoscope)
Vol. 116
Issue 12
Pg. 2171-7
(Dec 2006)
ISSN: 0023-852X [Print] United States |
PMID | 17146392
(Publication Type: Journal Article)
|
Topics |
- Cleft Lip
(surgery)
- Female
- Humans
- Infant
- Male
- Rhinoplasty
(methods)
- Surgical Flaps
- Suture Techniques
- Treatment Outcome
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