PRINCIPLES OF CLEFT NOSE CORRECTION

Background: Cleft lips are very common malformation and all patients p resent a typical feature of the nose. The correction of a cleft nose i s the most important: step in secondary rehabilitation of CLP-patients . Adequate correction of tile septum is a must for the functional as W ell as the aesthetic result. In many cases it will become necessary to take out the whole septum, to build up a straight septum plate and to replant it. To keep the replanted septum in the midline it is necessa ry to bring the dislocated anterior nasal spine into the correct posit ion. After closure of the lip, the deformity of the nasal tip and the nostrils preserve the stigma of the CLP-patient. To achieve symmetry o f the cartilagenous structures and the deformed soft tissue, a triple swing flap technique is recommended, which We have up to now used in 2 61 patients.