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HEAD AND NECK
The cleft lip usually results in deformities of the nose, which can be minimized by surgery: rhinoplasty. The major problems in these cases are the wide base of implantation of the nose, the nasal tip, lateral deviation, lack of support of the nostril on the side of the cleft and the fragile and poorly positioned cartilages. All these situations can be improved by means of the open rhinoplasty technique, which implies a small scar in the area of the columella (skin between the nostrils), but which allows, in these complex cases, a visualization and control of the procedure incomparably better than closed rhinoplasty.
In cases where orthognathic surgery is indicated to correct problems such as maxillary bone hypotrophy and dental malocclusion, the former must be done before rhinoplasty, because it already changes the shape and position of the nose.
