Multifaceted approach for treatment of Cleft Lip and Palate

Cleft lip and palate represent a major public health problem due to the possible associated life-long morbidity, complex etiology, and the extensive multidisciplinary commitment required for intervention. It affects about 1.5 per 1000 live births (250,000 new cases per year) worldwide, with tremendous variations across geographic areas and ethnic groups. It is considered a debilitating condition that is associated with significant feeding, hearing, speech, and psychological impairments. In this review, the epidemiology, and varied treatment protocols of cleft lip are discussed. The primary goals of surgical repair are to restore normal function, speech development, and facial esthetics. Different techniques are employed based on surgeon expertise and the unique patient presentations. Pre-surgical orthopedics are frequently employed prior to definitive repair to improve outcomes. The wide surgical, dental, speech, social, and medical involvement emphasize the importance of understanding the underlying determinants of these defects to allow optimizing the treatment options and predicting the long-term course of the affected individuals development. Optimal and early surgical intervention is necessary and folic acid supplementation proved to be a highly efficient preventive strategy. However, there are still many challenges to be addressed for cleft care especially in the developing parts of the world.