The unilateral cleft lip is a complex deformity. Surgical correction has evolved from a straight repair through triangular and quadrilateral repairs to the Rotation Advancement Technique of Millard. The latter is the technique followed at our centre for all unilateral cleft lip patients. We operate on these at five to six months of age, do not use pre-surgical orthodontics, and follow a protocol to produce a notch-free vermillion. This is easy to follow even for trainees. We also perform closed alar dissection and extensive primary septoplasty in all these patients. This has improved the overall result and has no long-term deleterious effect on the growth of the nose or of the maxilla. Other refinements have been used for prevention of a high-riding nostril, and correction of the vestibular web.

Introduction:Unfavorable results in unilateral and bilateral cleft lip repair are often easy to spot but not always easy to prevent as to treat. We have tried to deal with the more common problems and explain possible causes and the best possible management options from our experience.Unilateral cleft lip repair:Unfavorable results immediately after repair involve Dehiscence and Scaring. Delayed blemishes include vermillion notching, a short lip, deficiency in the height of the lateral vermillion on the cleft side, white roll malalignment, oro-vestibular fistula, the cleft lip nose deformity, a narrow nostril and a “high-riding” nostril. We analyze the causes of these blemishes and outline our views regarding the treatment of these.Bilateral cleft lip:Immediate problems again include dehiscence as also loss of prolabium or premaxilla. Delayed unfavorable results are central vermillion deficiency, a lip that is too tight, bilateral cleft lip nose deformity, problems with the premaxilla and maxillary growth disturbances. Here again we discuss the causation of these problems and our preferred methods of treatment.Conclusion:We have detailed the significant unfavorable results after unilateral and bilateral cleft lip surgery. The methods of treatment advocated have been layer from our own experience.

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The unilateral cleft lip is a complex deformity. Surgical correction has evolved from a straight repair through triangular and quadrilateral repairs to the Rotation Advancement Technique of Millard. The latter is the technique followed at our centre for all unilateral cleft lip patients. We operate on these at five to six months of age, do not use pre-surgical orthodontics, and follow a protocol to produce a notch-free vermillion. This is easy to follow even for trainees. We also perform closed alar dissection and extensive primary septoplasty in all these patients. This has improved the overall result and has no long-term deleterious effect on the growth of the nose or of the maxilla. Other refinements have been used for prevention of a high-riding nostril, and correction of the vestibular web.

Blindness following a LeFort I osteotomy is a rare but extremely serious complication. Ten cases have been reported to date. None of these patients recovered vision. Optic neuropathy is believed to be the cause but the exact mechanism has not been settled. We report the first, and the only two, documented cases of complete loss of vision that recovered subsequently. The first patient was a 19-year-old male with repaired bilateral cleft lip and palate. He developed loss of vision in the right eye on the second postoperative day. The second patient was a 22-year-old male with repaired unilateral cleft lip and palate. He developed complete loss of vision in the left eye on the day of surgery. Both these patients underwent ongoing studies, which did not show any abnormalities. Both were treated with methylprednisolone. Both the patients gradually showed improvement in their vision. The first patient recovered normal vision several months postoperatively. The second patient's vision improved to 4/60 by 4 months postoperatively. We discuss the probable mechanisms of optic nerve injury and also the possible reasons why sight was restored in these patients. This is a rare but serious complication following a fairly common procedure. Through this article we wish to create an awareness of this complication and also a possible way of avoiding such a disaster.