Abstract:

Objective   To evaluate the orthopedic effect of presurgical nasoalveolar molding (PNAM) devices on the palatal deformities in unilateral complete cleft lip and palate (UCCLP) patients. Methods   Three groups with 19 patients each were studied. All samples in groups A and B were non-syndromic UCCLP children. Group A was treated with PNAM prior to operation. Group B was untreated prior to operation. Samples in group C were normally developed nose and lip palate infants aged three months. The orthotopic palate photos before and after PNAM treatment for group A, as well as pre-operative photos of groups B and group C, were taken and measured. All statistics were analyzed using SPSS 21.0. Results   PNAM treatment significantly increased the AW, AC, and PA of UCCLP patients (P<0.05), whereas CPW, CWA, CWAS, CWAH, PMD, and CA significantly decreased (P<0.05). However, no significant difference was observed with the cases in group C (P<0.05). The AW, CPW, CA, and PA of the patients in group B significantly increased compared with the cases in group A before PNAM treatment (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis of variance indicated that TW had no statistically significant diffe-rence among the three groups (P>0.05). Conclusion   PNAM treatment is a non-surgical early treatment for the effective improvement of palatal primary deformities in UCCLP patients.

Key words: presurgical nasoalveolar molding devices, complete unilateral cleft lip and palate, palatal deformities, pre-surgical orthopedics