Proboscis lateralis: Review of literature and a case report

Proboscis Lateralis is a rare congenital anomaly, which is embryologically related to the median facial cleft, and may be associated with other anomalies of the eye and its adnexa and cleft lip and palate. A child with Group three proboscis lateralis was treated by using the flaps of the proboscis lateralis, one for the correction of maxillary hypoplasia and the other for correction of the grooving in the nasolabial region. This technique helped in achieving a good cosmetic outcome. Various methods have been suggested for the treatment of proboscis lateralis, ranging from the extirpation of the proboscis, to the tunneling method. We have suggested the use of the flaps from the proboscis, which gave us the advantage of a one-stage correction of the proboscis along with the maxillary hypoplasia, and to minimize the grooving in the nasolabial region.