Something about Cleft Lip
Cheilo-gnatho-palatoschisis or Cleft Lip and Palate /CLP
In a country such as The Netherlands between 400 and 500 children yearly are born with a cleft lip. This deformation, also known as schisis, is congenital and may be unilateral or bilateral. It is usually operated upon as soon as feasible. In western society, schisis teams have been formed in order to provide the little patients with all the support they need.
Children in the developing countries are less fortunate, mainly because of a chronic lack of funds and qualified surgeons. In addition, parents are often hesitant to show a deformed child to the world and therefore do not seek medical assistance. Cultural factors related to e.g. witchcraft or ancestor worship may contribute to these inhibitions. If medical specialists are not at hand, they may be stuck with the limited skills of the local witchdoctor. As a result, many of these little patients in developing countries have little chance of survival.
Schisis may not be limited to a cleft lip, but may also involve a cleft upper jaw and palate. These deformities invariably cause problems with feeding and at a later age with speech development. The children may also experience an increased number of infections and inflammations of the jaw, throat, nose and ears.
A cleft lip is not hard to reconstruct for a specialised surgeon, usually a maxillo-facial or a plastic surgeon. In the countries visited by the EFCLP teams, the operations are performed in two sessions; especially when the palate is open as well. This implies that the same hospital is visited more than once in order to perform the second part of the operations. The EFCLP teams bring their own post-op medication such as antibiotics to make sure that infections are effectively prevented.
