Mulliken's Bilateral Cleft Lip Repair: Early Outcome Analysis.

Objective: To determine the early surgical outcome of Mulliken's repair technique for bilateral cleft lip.

Study design: Descriptive cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of the study: Burns and Plastic Surgery Centre, Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar, Pakistan, from January 2020 to December 2021.

Methodology: This study included 51 patients with bilateral cleft lip deformity. Patients were evaluated preoperatively to exclude any associated congenital anomalies or comorbidities. Then the patients were classified into mild, moderate, severe, and asymmetrical cases. Outcomes were determined immediately and one week postoperatively, as good (score 16-20), fair (score 11-15), and bad (0-10) on the basis of anthropometric measurements on outcome evaluation criteria (OEC).

Results: Preoperatively mild, moderate, and severe bilateral cleft lips were observed in 18 (35.3%), 6 (11.85%), and 15 (29.4%), respectively, while 10 (19.6%) were bilateral asymmetrical cleft lips. The postoperative outcome score ranged from 16 to 20 (mean 19.2+1.03) which falls in the good outcome range. Nasal symmetry was good in 64.7% (n=33) cases while 31.4% (n=16) patients had satisfactory scores.

Conclusion: Although Mulliken's repair is by far the most prevalent type of repair for bilateral cleft lip patients, the results can vary markedly. The early outcome evaluation criteria is an objective tool to measure the outcomes.

Key words: Cleft lip, Bilateral cleft lip, Mulliken, Mulliken's repair, Day care surgery, Outcome.