Palatal fistulae are challenging complications following cleft palate repair. The addition of acellular dermal matrix (ADM) to cleft palate repair has been shown to reduce fistula formation in previous studies. The use of autologous dermal graft has all the structural advantages of ADM, has less rejection and immunogenic potential, and is cost effective. A prospective study. Patients with Group II and III cleft palate (Nagpur Classification) without prior intervention for palatal repair in the Department of Plastic Surgery at PGIMER from January 2020 till June 2021. The addition of autologous dermal graft for palatoplasty. Outcome of the study was fistula development or exposure of dermal graft. Autologous dermal graft was harvested of average dimension of 8.73 cm2 (range 5.25-18 cm2) from groin region. Sixteen patients were included in the study. Among them, 2 patients (12.5%) developed postoperative fistula (Type III &V Pittsburgh Classification). Our study showed that the rates of postoperative fistula formation are comparable with prior literature using artificial dermal matrices.

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Introduction The study was carried out to quantify the changes induced by the pandemic in plastic surgery practice and training and to study the impact of the webinars on plastic surgery education from a residents’ perspective. Methods In this multicentric study, the number and type of surgeries, cause of injuries, and their regional variation during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) period (February–September 2020) were compared with pre–COVID-19 time. An online survey on the impact of webinars was conducted for plastic surgery trainees across the country. Results There was a significant reduction in total number of surgeries (p = 0.003). The procedures for hand (p = 0.156), faciomaxillary injuries (p = 0.25), and replantations (p = 0.46) were comparable; there was a significant reduction in combined orthopedic-plastic-surgical procedures (p = 0.009) during the pandemic. There was a significant reduction in road accidents (p = 0.007) and suicidal injuries (p = 0.002) and increase in assault (p = 0.03) and domestic accidents (p = 0.01) during the COVID-19 period.A usefulness score of >8 was given for the webinars by 68.7% residents. There was no significant difference in perception of utility when correlated with the academic program at their institutes (p = 0.109); 92% opined webinars should continue in post-COVID times. Conclusion There was a drastic reduction in number of elective and emergency procedures during the COVID-19 time, negatively affecting resident training program. Majority of residents felt that webinars could prove a useful adjunct to training in formal training program in post-COVID-19 scenario.

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