Understanding Cleft Lip and Palate: Causes and Effects

During the first three months of pregnancy, incomplete union of the two lip segments can result in varying degrees of clefting.
A cleft palate occurs when the two palatine shelves fail to fuse. This failure can affect only the soft palate or both the hard and soft palate.
Clefts are unexpected openings or gaps, typically found on an infant’s lip or the roof of their mouth (the palate). Cleft lip and palate affect 1 in 700 births, making them one of the most common birth anomalies worldwide.
Clefts develop during the first trimester of pregnancy when essential tissues do not fuse properly. Some children are born with cleft lip and palate, and clefts may also be associated with specific syndromes.
Genetic and environmental factors are believed to cause global clefts, which occur in infants.
Children with clefts can face significant nutrition, speech, oral health, and community inclusion challenges.

Effects of Cleft

Common consequences of cleft include feeding problems. The cleft lip makes it difficult for children to drink, and the cleft palate can mean trouble swallowing or even food coming out of the nose. Many children become sick, and some even die because they cannot drink enough to keep them healthy and growing.
Due to their special appearance and superstitions in society, such as that an aperture is the punishment for a sin, many cleft children suffer from social isolation and do not enjoy going to school. Also, apertures usually result in severe problems with speaking, and, since patients with cleft palate often have ear infections, also with hearing. This means that cleft children can have trouble doing many everyday activities.
The good news is that cleft can be treated very well!

Free Cleft Lip And Palate Treatment In Pakistan

Cleft lip and cleft palate treatment is multidisciplinary and involves at least 7 to 8 specialities at different times, such as paediatricians, orthodontists, plastic surgeons, speech-language pathologists, maxillofacial surgeons, psychiatrists, social workers, and oto-laryngo-rhino surgeons. A plastic surgeon usually leads this joint effort, as 80% of the job is done by the plastic surgeon.
A skilled surgical intervention is the most important part of the cleft treatment and should ideally take place at three months old for the lip and nine months for the palate. So act now!
Our cleft teams will provide detailed information about the treatment. This website provides introductory information only! For further information and to make medical decisions, please consult a doctor!

Course of treatment: Free Cleft Lip And Palate Surgery In Pakistan

If the lip and palate are affected, two surgeries are needed: The first surgery – to repair the cleft lip – at 3 to 6 months of age, and the second surgery – for the cleft palate – at 12 months of age. Severe clefts often need further treatment. Additional surgeries might become necessary during childhood and adolescence. Dental or orthodontic treatment, as well as speech therapy, is often required and is available at Muskurahat Center.
With its dedicated cleft tea, Cleft Pakistan offers a multidisciplinary approach to cleft treatment. If a newborn is brought to us, pediatric care and orthodontic treatment are started. The child receives treatment for malnutrition and infection, and upon reaching the age of three months, the lip is operated on. At nine months, cleft palate is operated, and the child is kept in follow-up to watch for any signs of problems. When the child turns four years old, speech therapy is started if there are any speech difficulties. At six years, the child is assessed by an orthodontist to confirm normal growth of the teeth. At eight years, the child undergoes surgery of the alveolus (gums) by implanting a bone graft taken from the hip bone.
Sometimes, when speech therapy is not sufficient alone, a surgical pharyngoplasty is performed to improve speech further with the help of speech therapists. If the child has problems with the nose, cleft rhinoplasty is offered at 17 to 18 years old. After each treatment, follow-up care is provided. Our project manager contacts the patients and reminds them of the next treatment. Counselling and feeding instructions are made available by the cleft team at Muskurahat Center.