Planning the treatment of a baby with congenital cleft lip is both a very difficult and very easy approach.
It is thanks to our lips that we can say words of love. It is possible to convey our feelings and thoughts to our loved ones through different means. We've been doing this for years; We did it by letter, telegram, radio and payphones. Nowadays; We do this via text messages, e-mails and video phones. However, it is an undeniable fact that lips are needed to be able to tell people, especially the opposite sex, that they love them or even to plant a kiss on them.
It is an obvious fact that lips are extremely important among the most functional organs. We need lips to eat, drink, speak and even breathe regularly and comfortably. If an accident were to happen to our lips, many of our functions would be immediately interrupted.
If a baby is born with a cleft lip, it means that there is a deficiency in the fulfillment of all these functions, especially sucking and feeding. As plastic surgeons, our duty is, This little individual should not have any problems with the lips while reaching his/her partner's heart in the future.
When the baby is born, checking the gender first is an action that should be considered normal. However, the baby's hands and feet are then examined. So that there is no shortage or excess. Families who are experienced in this regard do not forget to look at the lips, because in our society, if there is a 6 in a thousand, there is a possibility of a baby with cleft lip being born. The term "one in a thousand" that we use here does not mean that cleft lip is very rare in our society. Because statistically, this definition is well established. In other words, 1 in 1,000 live births in our country is born with a cleft lip. The fact that the mother and father are relatives increases this possibility even more. For this reason, I cannot help but emphasize once again that consanguineous marriages should be avoided as much as possible. It is known that some diseases experienced by the mother during pregnancy, especially in the first three months, cause the baby to be born with a cleft lip.
It is popularly known as "rabbit lip" or "rabbit lip". This disorder, also called "wolf mouth", causes panic in the family as soon as the baby is born. People are concerned about matters that concern them. They are extremely worried about not having enough information. Without knowledge, various bad scenarios begin to be created. Anxiety increases and the situation becomes impossible. The opposite is also possible. In other words, it has been determined that even in the most hopeless situations, people can be more tolerant in the face of logical explanations.
So, can a baby born with a cleft lip be completely treated? So can he breathe normally, eat normally and talk normally?
If a baby with a cleft lip is born in a family, the family should not be alarmed. If treatment is planned and applied on time, this baby is no different from his other friends; It will be possible for him to eat, drink and talk normally.
The family whose baby was born with a cleft lip is in panic and anxiety. First of all, they question why such a situation happened to them. Then they want to be informed about whether this problem can be completely resolved. Additionally, there is confusion about how to feed a baby with cleft lip. First of all, this nutrition issue should be clarified. In these cases, since the lip integrity is not complete, the baby cannot vacuum and has difficulty sucking his mother. That's why the baby should be bottle fed. The first choice in nutrition should be breast milk. To do this, breast milk should first be expressed with a "triley" (breast pump), then transferred to long "puppy" bottles and given to the baby. This process should be done by holding the baby on the lap at a 45-degree angle. The baby should never be fed by lying on its back. Otherwise, the food may get into the baby's throat. and breathing difficulties may occur. Since these babies cannot vacuum, they make excessive effort during the sucking process, they get tired quickly and have to stop sucking before they are full. Therefore, feeding must be done at frequent intervals. In addition, babies with cleft lip, who cannot vacuum fully, need plenty of air during sucking. Therefore, it is of vital importance to burp these babies after feeding.
The treatment of "Congenital Cleft Lip" is surgery. The most important point to emphasize here is to determine at what age it is more appropriate to perform the surgery. More After early or later interventions, It will be inevitable that some problems will occur. In general, our aim should be to perform this operation as early as possible after birth. Thus, the family's concerns are resolved and the normal anatomy and functional function of the lip is fulfilled. However, having surgery on the baby immediately after birth also has some risks. Because the surgeries on these babies are performed under general anesthesia, that is, by putting them to sleep. In order for a baby to receive general anesthesia, certain conditions must be met and it must be determined that there is no harm in receiving anesthesia. The process until surgery for babies with cleft lip has been scientifically determined. For this, we apply the rule of 10s. So the baby will be 10 weeks old, his blood value (Hb) will be at least 10 and he will weigh 10 Libs (about 4.5 kg). There is no reason why a baby who meets these conditions and has no problems with general anesthesia should not be operated on as soon as possible. After these surgeries are performed at a very early age (2.5 months), the scars left on the lips are minimal.
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