Do babies require arm splints after cleft palate repair?

Traditionally, arm restraints are used in children after cleft surgery to prevent traumatic disruption of the repair. A questionnaire amongst consultant plastic surgeons in the UK that restraints are in common use. However, a prospective randomised trial of 46 children having primary cleft palate repair showed that arm splints did not decrease the incidence of oronasal fistulae. Six of 21 children who had arm splints in the postoperative period and 5 of 25 who did not have splints developed an oronasal fistula. We have therefore abandoned the use of arm splints after cleft palate repair.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes