TISSUE EXPANSION IN MEDIAN FACIAL CLEFT RECONSTRUCTION - A CASE-REPORT

Median cleft of the face is a rare congenital anomaly. Patients with m ild deformities require only limited nasal reconstruction; however, th e nasal dorsal soft tissue envelope is usually tight and insufficient, making bone grafting difficult. The tissue-expansion method was used for nasal reconstruction in a patient with a median facial cleft, an e xpander being improvised from an intubation tube balloon.