Many parents worry when their infant is born with a cleft lip. Fortunately, cleft lip repair surgery can now effectively improve this condition, helping individuals achieve naturally beautiful lips. Typically, cleft lip repair surgery is tailored to each patient's specific lip anatomy to create a suitable, natural-looking lip shape, ensuring every child can attain a natural lip contour.
1. Dietary Care:
Infants with cleft lip may receive small amounts of glucose water 6–8 hours after surgery. If vomiting does not occur, feeding via dropper or spoon may commence. Should the infant refuse food due to wound pain, appropriate fluid supplementation should be provided to maintain electrolyte balance.
Adult patients should consume liquid diets for one week, gradually transitioning to semi-liquid and then soft foods. Palate cleft patients require liquid diets for 2–3 weeks post-surgery, followed by one week of semi-liquid diets before gradually shifting to soft foods. Spoon-feeding must be maintained throughout. After each meal, use mouthwash to remove food residue, maintain oral hygiene, and conduct speech therapy.
2. General Care:
Postoperative patients should be kept warm to prevent colds. In addition to antibiotic injections for infection prevention, lip wounds should be cleaned with hydrogen peroxide or saline 2–3 times daily. Nasal cavities may be instilled with furazolidone solution, ephedrine solution, or chloramphenicol solution 3–4 times daily to reduce nasal secretions, maintain wound cleanliness and dryness, and prevent wound maceration.Avoid loud crying in the child. A lip bow may be used to stabilize the cleft lip. Parents should prevent the child from touching or bumping the wound, inserting fingers or toys into the mouth, or drinking through straws to prevent wound reopening.
3. Wound Care:
If healing progresses well, sutures for cleft lip surgery are removed 5–7 days post-op. If a lip bow is used, it should remain in place for at least 10 days. For cleft palate surgery, iodine gauze packs in the mouth can be removed 7–12 days post-op. If no bleeding occurs, further packing is unnecessary. Oral sutures in the palate are removed 2 weeks post-surgery.