Should Cleft Surgery Always be Performed During the Matutine Time? Analysis of Early and Late Postoperative Complications in a Cleft Center

Abstract

Objective: Surgeries performed in the afternoon schedule were discouraged by Smile Train Foundation for patients younger than 2 years. The aim of this study is to present the incidence of complications discriminating time of surgery (morning/afternoon) in a reference center in Curitiba (Brazil) during 2017. Design: Retrospective study that evaluated all cleft surgeries that were performed at Assistance Center for Cleft Lip and Palate during 2017. Complications correlated with surgery period (morning/afternoon), type of surgery, and operating surgeon were studied. Statistical analysis was performed to find any association between discrete variables. Setting: Tertiary, institutional Participants: One hundred eighty-seven patients with cleft lip and/or cleft palate/cleft lip and palate, who were evaluated and submitted to surgery in the center and had less than 24 months of age, were included in the study. Interventions: One hundred twenty-four cheiloplasties and 63 palatoplasties were performed. Main Outcome Measure: Incidence of complications. Results: From the total of cheiloplasties, the number of complications was 2 (1.6%) and from the total of palatoplasties the number of complications was 11 (17%); 8.1% of surgeries that were performed in the morning had any complication compared to 5.1% of surgeries performed in the afternoon. Statistical analysis of discrete variables with χ2 test showed no correlation between surgery schedule and complications (χ2 = 0.62). Conclusion: The number of complications was not higher in the afternoon scheduled surgeries. Surgeon expertise had a statistically significant correlation with the absence of complications (χ2 = 20.57).