ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the aesthetic outcomes of surgery in preschool-aged bilateral complete cleft lip patients by comparing their nasal aesthetic parameters with those of normal children. SETTING AND SAMPLE POPULATION: Twenty-six 4 to 6-year-old (preschool age) patients with bilateral complete cleft lip who underwent primary cheiloplasty and a control group of 30 children in Northeast Thailand of the same age were enrolled. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nasal aesthetic parameters were analyzed in terms of 3 ratios and 1 angle using three-dimensional photographs. The data from bilateral cleft lip patients were compared with those from a control group. RESULTS: The nasal parameters of patients in the cleft group were the same as those in the control group in terms of nasal tip height (NTH), columella height (CH), and dome height (DH) (P values were 0.361, 0.494, and 0.086), but nasal width (NW) was greater in the cleft group (Pâ<â0.001). The nasal aesthetic parameters differed significantly between the 2 groups in terms of CLA (Pâ<â0.001) and ratio of NTH and NW (Pâ<â0.001), but not in terms of the CH:NW (Pâ=â0.190) and DH:CH ratios (Pâ=â0.147). CONCLUSION: This treatment protocol for bilateral cleft lip was able to achieve most of the aesthetic goals in terms of NTH, CH, DH, ratio of CH to NW, and ratio of DH to CH. However, more surgical correction of NW and CLAs may be needed.
