Modified Medial Incision Small Double-Opposing Z-Plasty for Treating Veau Type I Cleft Palate: Is the Early Result Reproducible?

Objective: An inspiring early result with no oronasal fistula formation was recently described for a modified medial incision small double-opposing Z-plasty (MIsDOZ) for treating Veau type I cleft palate. This study describes an early single-surgeon experience in applying this newly proposed surgical approach.

Design: Retrospective single-surgeon study.

Patients: Consecutive nonsyndromic patients (n  =  27) with Veau I cleft palate.

Interventions: Topographic anatomical-guided MIsDOZ palatoplasty with pyramidal space dissection (releasing of the ligamentous fibers in the greater palatine neurovascular bundle and pyramidal process region, in-fracture of the pterygoid hamulus, and widening of space of Ernst) performed by a novice surgeon (RD).

Mean Outcome Measures: Age at surgery, the presence of cleft lip, palatal cleft width, use of lateral relaxing incision, and 6-month complication rate (bleeding, dehiscence, fistula, and flap necrosis). A published senior surgeon-based outcome dataset (n  =  24) was retrieved for comparison purposes.

Results: Twenty-two (81.5%) and 5 (18.5%) patients received the medial incision only technique and lateral incision technique, respectively (  =  .002). Age, presence of cleft lip, and cleft width were not associated (all  > .05) with the use of lateral incision. Comparative analysis between the novice surgeon- and senior surgeon-based datasets revealed no significant differences for sex (females: 74.1% vs 62.5%;   =  .546), age (10.2  ±  1.7 vs 9.6  ±  1.2 months;   =  .143), rate of lateral incision (18.5% vs 4.2%;   =  .195), and postoperative complication rate (0% vs 0%).

Conclusion: This modified DOZ palatoplasty proved to be a reproducible procedure for Veau I cleft palate closure, with reduced need for lateral incision and with no early complication.