Primary repair of bilateral cleft lip and nasal deformity.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: After studying this article, the participant should be able to: 1. List five principles that guide synchronous repair of bilateral complete cleft lip and nasal deformity. 2. Explain how different growth rates for the principal nasolabial features are applied during primary repair. 3. Describe two approaches for positioning the alar cartilages to form the columella. 4. Discuss the influences on referral patterns for a newborn with bilateral cleft lip. --Traditional repair of bilateral cleft lip focused on labial closure but accentuated the nasal deformities, which were addressed later. By the end of the past century, single-staged labial closure had replaced the old multistaged procedures and the technical emphasis had begun to shift from secondary to primary nasal correction. Now, presurgical maxillary orthopedics sets the bony foundation for synchronous nasolabial repair and for closure of the alveolar clefts. The study of normal nasolabial growth and the typical stigmata of the conventional methods provides the necessary foreknowledge to guide surgical sculpture in three dimensions and to anticipate the fourth dimension. The convergence of several forces are changing referral lines for children born with bilateral cleft lip. These include affirmation of centers of excellence, surgeons' self-regulation, prenatal diagnosis, economics of health-care delivery, and increasing parental sophistication. These pressures are not necessarily in conflict. Care by a subspecialized plastic surgeon and experienced team is in the best interests of the child and the third-party payer.