General Considerations of Cleft Lip Surgery
Surgery is performed in the hospital under general anesthesia. In most centers, the child is admitted to the hospital one day before surgery. The surgical procedure for closure of a unilateral cleft lip and nose deformity generally requires between one to two hours. The hospital stay is usually twenty-four hours.
After the surgery is completed, the child is taken to the recovery room for careful monitoring. When your child has safely recovered from anesthesia and is waking up, you will be able to be with him or her before returning to the child's hospital room. During the rest of your child's stay, you will learn how to care for the operative wound, and you will be taught the special technique of cup feeding.
Your baby will wear arm restraints to keep him or her from touching or disturbing the freshly reconstructed nose and lip. These restraints are for your child's safety and are not uncomfortable. They should be kept on at all times after surgery for a period of up to three weeks. This will be discussed with you in further detail prior to the operation.
Your child's lip must be cleansed of any crusted fluid or blood. To prevent any sucking motion which may injure the newly reconstructed lip, you will carefully feed your child with a cup or syringe.
Sutures in the lip are removed at approximately five to seven days after surgery. A dressing of steri-strips is then applied to secure and protect the suture line. You may apply paper tape for several weeks after surgery. Specific instructions regarding this procedure will be given to you at the appropriate time.
It will take two and a half to three weeks for the operative wound to gain sufficient strength to resist damage. During this time, it is important for your child to continue wearing the arm restraints and to be prevented from rolling over.