A female asked:
What recovery problems are to be expected from a cleft lip and palate surgery for a one-year old? we have adopted a one-year old child, that has a cleft lip and palate. what difficulties could be encountered during recovery? will her breathing be affected
2 doctor answers • 3 doctors weighed in
Dr. Mia Skourtisanswered
Surgery - Plastics 25 years experience
Cleft : Cleft lip and palate treatment consists of multiple staged operations that will occur over the life of your child as he/she reaches different developmental landmarks. Most typically, the cleft lip is repaired first and allowed to heal before proceeding to repair of the cleft palate. Because your child is older than the typical ages of repair of the cleft lip (3 months old) and palate (8-10 months old), some surgeons may decide to do more than one procedure in a single stage. This will depend on the experience and preferences of your surgeon, as well as considerations of your child's general health.
Because repair of cleft lip and palate is an involved process involving multiple stages over the lifetime of your child, my strongest recommendation is to connect with an experienced craniofacial surgical center with an integrated, team approach. Excellent outcomes can be achieved when a child has integrated care from plastic surgeons, otolaryngologists, speech therapists, orthodontists, dentists, and social services coordinators. My own craniofacial surgery training was at stanford university, and i can personally recommend the stanford/ lucille packard cleft and craniofacial team to you as an excellent team. There are also other centers near you which have very good craniofacial programs.
Please arrange to have your child evaluated by an experienced craniofacial team in order to get the best answers to your questions.
All the best to you,
dr. Skourtis.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.3k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Dr. Mark Venincasaanswered
Dentistry - Cosmetic 37 years experience
Visit with a surgeon: The best answers can be obtained from the office of the surgeon who performs these surgeries. They can help you to anticipate what life would be like following surgery. They also understand the severity of this condition in your child.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Last updated Oct 3, 2016
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