An Update on the Outcome of Primary Cleft Rhinoplasty

Abstract

Primary cleft rhinoplasty has been a topic of interest over the decades. The cleft nasal deformities challenge all plastic surgeons. There is significant variability in the anatomy of each cleft deformity, but iatrogenic changes and scarring from the previous surgeries add another layer of complexity. There are lots of techniques described to address such deformities. These techniques were further refined and modified over time, but no one protocol is reported to be entirely satisfactory. A perfect nose with no deformity is unusual, but reasonably good results are achieved when the principles of nasal repair are fully applied. Moreover, there is still paucity in the outcomes reported, which makes it harder to evaluate the results of the primary rhinoplasty. And, even the few reported results are not evaluated according to standardized methods, making the evaluation subjective. This work aims to review recent literature on long-term primary rhinoplasty outcomes of unilateral cleft lip.