Surgical Repair of Cleft Lip Under Local Anaesthesia With or Without Conscious Sedation: Review of One Centre Experience

Abstract

Background: The repair of cleft lip under local anaesthesia with or without conscious sedation had been practiced over a period of years especially in less affluent hospitals where general anaesthesia was not readily available.
The aim of this study was to describe our experiences and outcome with paediatric cleft lip repair under local anaesthesia with or with conscious sedation.  

Subjects and Method: We studied children presenting with cleft lip who had surgical repairs done between December 2009 and December 2015. The parameters recorded were: type of cleft, age of patient, type of pain control technique, treatment duration, recovery time from sedation and complications.

Results: A total of ninety-one patients were operated. Their age range was four months to twelve years with an age(SD) of 4.6(3.4) years, 52(57.1%), or them were males while 39 (42.9%) are females. 74 (81.3%) of the children had their cleft lip repaired under local anesthesia with conscious sedation while 17 (18.6%) had cleft lip repaired solely under local anaesthesia. 52(57.1%) of the children treated under local anesthesia with conscious sedation were in the age range between 4 months and 3 years.  

Conclusion: The study described a safe and emotional modification of anaesthesia for repair of cleft lip using children and significantly wide variety margins when compared with endotracheal general anaesthesia.