A couple from Lucknow brought their 4-month-old baby girl born with unilateral cleft lip and palate to our hospital for cleft management. They were very anxious about their baby’s birth defect and sought expert surgical care for her.

Maxillofacial surgeon Dr. S.M. Balaji successfully performed the primary cleft lip repair using modified Millard’s technique. Following suture removal seven days post-surgery, the baby’s appearance was greatly improved. The baby’s parents were very happy that their baby’s cleft lip deformity was corrected successfully. Cleft palate surgery will be done subsequently.

Primary cleft lip repair surgery is done in infancy. As the child grows, the scar thickens and results in a very thin upper lip. This can be successfully corrected with abbe flap technique. A flap of tissue is taken from the lower lip, rotated across the mouth and sutured to the upper lip with the base of the flap still attached to the lower lip to maintain the blood supply. In males, the flap is taken along with hair follicles to ensure growth of the moustache. After blood supply is established, the flap is divided and normal form and function of upper lip is restored.