Comparing Surgical Advancement Outcomes of Retruded Maxilla in a Group of Egyptian Cleft Lip and Palate Subjects

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cleft lip and palate (CLP) is one of the most common congenital deformities involving intervention in several sub-specialties. AIM: The present study was conducted to investigate the amount of maxillary advancement obtained by three different methods. METHODS: A retrospective comparative study was conducted on 24 CLP patients who were treated with three surgical maxillary advancement techniques: Group A was treated with Le Fort I (LFI) orthognathic surgery with bone grafting and rigid fixation (LFI). Group B was treated with intraoral maxillary bone distraction (MIDO). Group C was treated with orthodontic traction by facemask (orthodontic facemasks [OFM]) plus corticotomy. All pre-operative data were collected, which included intraoral and extraoral clinical photos and dental casts. Pre-operative radiographic assessment was compared with post-operative values using digital panorama, multi-slice computed tomography and lateral cephalometric X-ray measuring Sella-nasion-A point; point A-nasion-point B points, with a follow-up period of 6 months. RESULTS: All approaches showed statistically significant success in maxillary advancement with p < 0.01. LFI has produced the highest advancement obtained with regard to the pre-operative advancement required (8.6 ± 1.4) and post-operative advancement achieved (7.8 ± 0.8). MIDO technique is an alternative method to LFI, but it gives less achieved post-operative maxillary advancement (6.25 ± 0.8) and is indicated for moderate cases. OFM gave the least advancement results; however, it has been the most convenient less-invasive method and was more suitable for unsevere cases. CONCLUSIONS: The three approaches produced satisfactory results in rehabilitating deficient maxilla in cleft patients, although each technique has limitations and indications. Future research is recommended to assess the technique’s long-term stability.