Summary
Introduction
Nasal deformities secondary to incomplete cleft lip are often underestimated in terms
of their severity with resultant sub-optimal treatment. Constant refinements have
led to the evolution of different surgical techniques in our institution for the treatment
of these deformities. This study compared three different techniques in achieving
nasal asymmetry for patients with unilateral incomplete cleft lip.
Methods
Sixty-six patients who had primary correction of incomplete cleft lip nasal deformities
at the age of 3 months were reviewed later at the age of 5 or 6. The patients were
divided into three groups as according to the surgical treatment received: Group I
(n=21) underwent a closed rhinoplasty with cartilage dissection and repositioning through
lip incisions; Group II (n=25) underwent a semi-open rhinoplasty technique with cartilage dissection through
bilateral rim incisions; and Group III (n=20) received a semi-open rhinoplasty technique through a Tajima incision on the cleft
side and a rim incision on the contralateral side. Using photo-analysis, a total of
seven measurements were obtained comparing the cleft side with the non-cleft sides,
including bilateral nostril height, nostril width, height-to-width ratio, medial dome
height, nasal sill height, nostril area, nasolabial angle and nostril axis.
Results
All the patients benefitted from primary correction of their incomplete cleft lip
and nasal deformities. In addition, Group III patients achieved superior results over
Groups I and II in terms of nostril height ratio and nostril axis (p<0.005).
Conclusion
Primary correction of the nasal deformity is an important component of surgery at
the time of lip correction. Our results indicated that a semi-open rhinoplasty technique
accompanied by the Tajima incision provides the best overall nasal symmetry.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 30, 2011
Accepted:
November 6,
2011
Received:
June 25,
2011
Footnotes
☆Presented at 11th International Congress on Cleft lip and Palate and Related Craniofacial Anomalies, Fortaleza, Brazil, September 2009, Winner of the Best Junior Investigation Award.
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
