A Longitudinal Investigation of Nasolabial Changes With and Without Revision Surgery in Patients with Non-Syndromic Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate.

Objective: To determine a baseline of anticipated change in nasolabial appearance following primary repair of unilateral cleft lip/palate and evaluate the degree to which revision surgery improves nasolabial appearance.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Patients treated at the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic interdisciplinary clinic.

Patients: Twenty-three patients with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate who underwent primary surgical repair and 19 additional patients who underwent subsequent revision surgery were included.

Interventions: Patients in the non-revision group underwent a Tennison-Randall triangular flap lip repair at 3mo. Patients in the revision group underwent a modification of the Nakajima straight-line repair after primary Tennison-Randall triangular flap lip repair at an average age of 141mo.

Main outcome measures: A modification of the Asher-McDade Aesthetic Index was utilized to evaluate Nasolabial Frontal (NLF), Nasolabial Profile (NLP), Vermillion Border (VB), and total change in appearance. Scores for patients in the revision group were evaluated before and after revision while appearance for patients without revision was evaluated at 3 distinct ages. Scores were averaged across time-points and inter-rater reliability was assessed.

Results: Nasolabial appearance in the non-revision sample did not change significantly over time, except for nasal profile. Scores improved after revision surgery - NLP: 3.48 to 2.97, (p = 0.001); NLF: 3.50 to 2.95 (p = 0.001); and Total Nasolabial Score: 3.29 to 3.01 (p = 0.004), with no significant change in VB.

Conclusion: Decisions regarding need for nasolabial revision surgery may be made as early as 5yo with successful outcomes following secondary surgery improving appearance except for vermillion border appearance.