Background: Despite advances in health awareness programs
and general approval of the ideal time for primary palatal
repair before two years of life, we still face many patients
with untouched or unrepaired palate. Which put the surgeon
in a dilemma especially regarding patients' expectations for
improvement of nasality, regurgitation and speech.
Objective: Determining reasons of delayed presenting
with cleft palate and the effect of palatoplasty.
Patients and Methods: We included all patients' ≥6 years
with untouched cleft palate with or without previous cleft lip < br />repair. Data was collected about age, sex, type of cleft, reasons
of delay. All Patients underwent two flap palatoplasty and
followed postoperatively for complications, improvement of
hypernasality and nasal regurgitation.
Results: A total of 24 patients with delayed presentation of
untreated cleft palate between the years 2011 and 2021 were
included in this study. The most common reason for delayed
presentation was lacking nearby service (37.5%). The most
common presentation was unilateral cleft lip and palate with
repaired lip (37.5%). The intra-operative blood loss which
need blood transfusion was (8.3%). Also the post-operative
complication like bleeding, airway compromise, wound disruption
and fistula rate were (49.9%). Nasal regurgitation was
improved in 58.3% after palatoplasty only but in 33.3% of patients
another intervention needed. Improvement of hypernasality
was extremely linked to the patient's age.
Conclusion: We recommend intervention for lately presenting
patients with cleft palate even for adult's despite being
accustomed for regurgitation and nasality as the benefits are
much more than the drawbacks