Open tip rhinoplasty along with the repair of cleft lip in cleft lip and palate cases.

This paper is a report on a procedure to perform open tip rhinoplasty at the time of lip repair in unilateral and bilateral cleft lip and palate deformity. A total of 69 patients who had this operation between 1994 and 1997 have been reviewed. Conventionally there is hesitation to do radical nasal correction for the cleft lip patient because of the fear of possible growth retardation. The present technique, while it achieves excellent postoperative results constantly, does not entail any more trauma to the cartilage complex than any of the conventional closed rhinoplasty techniques. Early results obtained by this method appear to be superior to those by closed rhinoplasty techniques. Copyright 2000 The British Association of Plastic Surgeons.