November 23, the medical team is at the event celebrating the 7,000 cleft lip and palate surgery cases
Continuous management from the prenatal stage to adulthood “Thanks to the patients and their parents who put their trust in the medical team.”
Kim (male, aged 26) was born with a complete cleft lip and palate where his lips, palate and gums were all split. He received the first surgery on his 100th day after birth and underwent four surgeries in total by the time he entered elementary school. Though his appearance has improved, he had to take regular medical examinations as dyslalia or deformity can occur. He had a hard time during puberty because he looked different from others and had to go through a long period of treatment, but could pull himself together thanks to Professor Kyung Suk Koh at the Department of Plastic Surgery who treated Kim since he was a baby. Kim then successfully finished the College Scholastic Ability Test and the final nose surgery as well. With his new look, Kim gained confidence, fully enjoyed his undergraduate years and has now become a proud member of society working at a company he wanted to join.
AMC recently achieved 7,000 cases of cleft lip and palate surgery since it started treatment in 1989. It has also been at the forefront of cleft lip and palate reconstruction surgery in Korea, performing more than 300 cases a year from 2010.
The cleft lip and palate plastic surgery team are comprised of Professors Kyung Suk Koh, Jong Woo Choi, Tae Suk Oh and Woo Shik Jeong from the Department of Plastic Surgery. The team’s achievements include 1,900 cases of cheilorrhaphy (cheilostomatoplasty), 1,800 cases of palatine suture (palatorrhaphy), 800 cases of gum (alveolar) bone graft,1,900 cases of primary correction of the nasal deformity (primary rhinoplasty) and 500 cases of dyslalia (palatopharyngeal incompetence) correction.
Cleft lip and palate can be diagnosed before birth with antenatal ultrasonography. Cheilorrhaphy is performed around the 100th day after birth and palatine suture around the 1st birthday. Secondary surgeries will follow the primary ones to correct the deformity that occurs as the patient grows. Correction of nasal and lip deformity is done before entering elementary school in consideration of socialization development. Gum bone graft is carried out during the lower grades of elementary school and nasal surgery after puberty when facial growth stops. If the upper jaw does not grow properly, facial bone plastic surgery is conducted and the patient will have completed major treatments by then. In severe cases, an average of five surgeries is required over eighteen years before one’s facial area can have a natural appearance and function properly.
AMC is committed to the treatment of children with congenital facial malformation so that they can grow into healthy adults, which is demonstrated by the operation of an organic multidisciplinary system involving various departments, including plastic surgery, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, otolaryngology, pediatrics, rehabilitation medicine, neonatology and obstetrics/gynecology that have relevant expertise.
A cleft lip and palate show multiple symptoms in different parts of the body, including skin, muscle, cartilage, and bone. Its organization and the way it is deformed also vary by patient. As most of the patients are less than 10 years old, nerve or muscle damage is highly likely to occur even from small medical mistakes. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary for the responsible medical team to have abundant anatomical knowledge and surgery experience in order to delicately reconstruct the missing parts. Among 7,000 cases of surgeries performed in AMC, there were a few of recurrence or side effects such as nerve/muscle damage and surgery site dehiscence.
The cleft lip and palate plastic surgery team said, “This overwhelming record of 7,000 cleft lip and palate surgery cases was made possible thanks to the involved medical team’s efforts as well as the patients and their parents who put their trust in AMC and followed through, preventing the surgery sites from the further deformity.”
