Cleft Palate Repair

While palate repair has traditionally been performed at 24 months and later, scientific studies over the years have shown that palate repair should also be performed earlier so that speech development can be better. Since language development in babies begins around the 6th month, it has been decided that the most suitable timing for language-focused palate repair is around the 9th month.

Plastic surgeons use various repair techniques for palate reconstruction. The surgical method must be decided according to the location and size of the opening in the patient's palate. What all the techniques used have in common is the use of the tissues at the cleft edges. In all repair techniques, the nasal mucosa, the muscles and the oral mucosa are repaired as separate layers, and a multi-level repair is performed. The operation takes about two hours under general anaesthesia.

After the operation, antibiotics and painkillers will be prescribed. In the first 1-2 days there may be symptoms of restlessness or pain that are easily controlled with medication. Babies start feeding with a silicone spoon or bottle 2-3 hours after the operation. Since babies of operative age have the habit of putting everything they pick up into their mouths in order to get to know their surroundings, the babies' arm movements need to be restricted after the operation so that the repaired palate is not damaged. In other words, while babies are prevented from bending their arms at the elbows and bringing their hands to their mouths, the arms are not completely tied, allowing the baby to crawl or, if they fall, to protect themselves by stretching their arms forward.