RESUMO
Background: One of the most prevalent congenital malformations and the most frequent craniofacial defects in children is cleft lip and palate. The aim of the study was to investigate the anaesthetic procedures employed and to determine the challenges and postoperative complications associated with cleft lip and palate surgery. Material & Methods: A retrospective review of the anaesthetic procedures carried out from January 2022 to December 2022 at the Dhaka Dental College and Hospital. The hospital records were reviewed in order to learn about every occurrence of orofacial cleft surgery. In this study, a total number of 120 cases were reviewed. Results: Among 120 cases, 53 (44.2%) of the patients were female and 67 (55.8%) were male. The bulk of patients came after their first year of life. About 54(45%) of them were younger than five years old. 68(56.67%) underwent cleft lip surgery, 37(30.83%) for cleft palate surgery and rest 15(12.5%) patients under went for combined cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries. Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI) was reported as the most common pre-existing morbidity. Bronchospasm was the main intraoperative complications occurred in 8 (6.67%) of the cases with URTI. After surgey 6(5%) patients experienced bleeding, 3(2.5%) patients needed to be reintubated. In addition, 2 (1.67%) instances had trouble controlling their pain, only 1(0.83%) patient had trouble swallowing and 1(0.83%) recovered slowly. Conclusion: Anaesthesia for surgical repair of cleft lip or palate in children is challenging. After a thorough preoperative evaluation, a trained anaesthesiologist should administer anaesthesia under strict supervision to minimize postoperative complications.