Symptoms of dysphagia in children with cleft lip and/or palate pre- and post-surgical correction

Abstract

Purpose: Determine the occurrence of dysphagia symptoms in children with cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) pre- and post-surgical correction. Methods: Quantitative observational cross-sectional study. Existence of clef lip and/or palate without association with other syndromes was the study inclusion and/or exclusion criterion. Parents and/or legal guardians responded to a recall questionnaire on the identification of occurrence of coughing, choking, vomiting, and nasal escape pre- and postoperatively and whether these symptoms disappeared after surgical correction. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the aforementioned Institution under protocol no. 1573164. Results: The sample comprised 23 children with mean age of 48 months, mostly male and with unilateral trans-foramen incisor clefts. Statistically significant difference was observed between the pre- and post-surgical periods regarding the presence of dysphagia symptoms. Conclusion: Surgical treatment of patients with cleft lip and/or palate proved to be a resource to prevent the occurrence of dysphagia symptoms when associated with adequate intervention chronology.