Primary Pharyngeal Flap With Palate Repair Improves Speech Outcome in Older Children and Adults: A Comparative Study.

Background: Repair of cleft palate after 6 years of age is controversial in regard to the surgical procedure and the speech outcome. Primary repair alone may not be considered sufficient to achieve intelligible speech. The authors consider addition of pharyngeal flap at the time of primary repair to be a significant factor in improving speech.

Continuous Versus Interrupted Sutures for Primary Cleft Palate Repair.

Background: Cleft palate is a common congenital problem. It is traditionally surgically repaired with interrupted sutures between the ages of 6 and 18 months, with the aim of achieving closure of both nasal and oral layers. In various fields of surgery, continuous, rather than interrupted, sutures are the norm.

Pakistan Comprehensive Fistula Classification: A Novel Scheme and Algorithm for Management of Palatal Fistula/Dehiscence.

Background: It is not easy to find a management-based classification of palatal fistula in the literature. A few attempts have been made to classify the wide variety of fistulae that do not describe the fistula details comprehensively and guide toward its management. The authors have come across a wide variety of fistulae that could not be classified according to any of the prevailing classification systems.

Radical Dissection of Greater Palatine Artery and Dynamic Reconstruction of Cleft Palate.

Background: Restoration of proper anatomy and physiology is an integral part of cleft palate repair. The senior author has devised a new technique of radical release of greater palatine vessels, which helps in achieving tension-free closure of palatal cleft. In addition, release and transposition of palatal muscles is performed without the use of operative microscope, resulting in improved palatal function.

A model humanitarian cleft mission: 312 cleft surgeries in 7 days.

Background: There are many countries in the world where patients with cleft lip and palate cannot get access to specialized cleft care units. Cleft missions play an important role in providing surgical care to the areas of the world with limited resources. This article presents a model of cleft missions that can be adopted in many countries where expertise is available but resources are limited.

"Homemade" negative pressure wound therapy: treatment of complex wounds under challenging conditions.

Unlabelled:   Background. Complex wounds pose a challenge to the surgeons regarding coverage and reconstruction. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has become a widely accepted technology for managing such wounds.

Management of hypospadias cripples with two-staged Bracka's technique.

Patients labelled as 'hypospadias cripples' pose a challenge to reconstructive surgeons because of the complexity of the problem and limited options for reconstruction. The two-staged Bracka method is a versatile technique that is relatively easy to learn and applicable in difficult cases of salvage hypospadias. Over a period of 8 years, we applied this technique to 100 patients with hypospadias cripples who had previously undergone multiple (3-16) procedures.

Use of a pedicled flap for reconstruction of extensive soft tissue defects around elbow.

Objective: To determine the reliability of pedicled latissimus dorsi flap for reconstruction of extensive defects around the elbow in terms of flap survival and coverage of exposed bones, vessels or nerves.

Study Design: Case series.

Place And Duration Of Study: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, from February 2003 to January 2008.