Epidemiology of adult cleft patients in North-western Nigeria: our experience.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: To review cleft lip and palate procedures over a three-year (2008-2010) partnership between the smile train and our organization, the Grasssroot Smile Initiative (GSI). METHOD: A three-year retrospective study (2008-2010) involving 79 adult patients with clefts. RESULTS: Seventy nine (14.4%) of 550 patients with orofacial clefts seen and treated within a three-year period were adults with age range of 17 to 81 years; mean 31.45 ± 13.09. Majority were between 20 and 39 years. There were 54 (68.4%) males and 25 (31.6%) females, with the male:female ratio of 2.2:1. Analysis of the cleft types/site revealed 35 (44.3%) lip alone, 22 (27.8%) lip and alveolus, 7 (8.9%) lip and palate and 15 (19%) palate alone. Seven (8.9%) of these patients had other relatives with clefts. Sources of information were friends and relatives; 33 (41.8%), radio; 18 (22.8%), charity organization/NGO; 13 (16.5%), hospitals/physicians; 5 (6.3%), and others; 10 (12.7%). 57 patients with lip clefts had surgery under local anesthesia while the remaining 22 patients were done under general anesthesia. All clefts of the lip were repaired using the Millard advancement rotational flap for complete cleft, simple straight line closure for incomplete and double layer closure for the palate. CONCLUSION: The incidence of adult patients with orofacial cleft is not rare in our community, probably due to limited access to specialized health care facilities, poverty and ignorance. Furthermore, some of these patients are not aware that these facial defects can be repaired. The advent of the smile train organization and free services has resulted in this harvesting phenomenon.

Comparative study of effect of single and multiple suture techniques on inflammatory complications after third molar surgery.

PURPOSE: Pain, swelling, and trismus are the most common complications associated with third molar surgery. Several methods of alleviation of these complications have been described. The effect of single and multiple suture techniques on these complications was compared in the present study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All consecutive patients 18 years of age or older who had been referred for surgical extraction of their impacted teeth between January and December 2007 at the maxillofacial unit of the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital were recruited and randomized into 2 groups. All selected participants underwent surgical extraction of their impacted teeth by the same surgeon under local anesthesia. The flaps in 1 group were closed by multiple sutures and those in the second group were closed by a single suture. Pain, swelling, and trismus were evaluated at postoperative days 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7. Descriptive and comparative statistical analyses were performed, and the results are presented. Significance was set at P < .05. RESULTS: A total of 50 subjects participated in the present study. Both groups were comparable in terms of the age distribution (multiple suture group, 26.0 ± 4.73 years; single suture group, 25.8 ± 4.28 years, P = .755), difficulty index (multiple suture group, 5.0 ± 1.68; single suture group, 4.9 ± 4.79; P = .935), duration of surgery (multiple suture group, 29. 7 ± 6.11 minutes; single suture group, 30.0 ± 6.04 minutes; P = .835), and baseline parameters such as facial width (multiple suture group, 10.0 ± 1.32 cm; single suture group, 9.8 ± 0.37 cm; P = .115), mouth opening (multiple suture group, 4.5 ± 1.32 cm, single suture group, 4.8 ± 0.26 cm; P = .165), and preoperative pain, which was 0 in both groups. Other comparable variables included impaction type (P = .210) and indication for surgery (P = .278). A statistically significant difference was found in the level of pain at postoperative days 1, 2, and 3 (P < .05). A similar significant difference was found in swelling and trismus (P < .05). At days 5 and 7, no significant differences were found between the 2 groups for all parameters of pain, swelling, and trismus (P > .05). CONCLUSION: Our study had a comparable distribution of age, gender, and operative variables, such as the pattern of impaction, preoperative difficulty index, and operative time between patients undergoing the 2 methods of closure. With that, our results have shown that the single suture closure technique was better than the multiple suture technique with regard to postoperative pain, swelling, and trismus.