The Onizuka Technique in Treating the Cleft Lip and Palate

By studying the Eurocleft Project 1996 – 2000 report, after analyzing the reports received from 201 European centers which treat cleft lip and palate (CLP), we notice the existence of many approaches for treating this particular malformation, utilizing very different surgical techniques, hardly finding similar methods (1). The author analyzed the results obtained by utilizing the Onizuka as the main treatment scheme of the CLP, trough a prospective study including 63 children with CLP, treated in the Pediatric Surgery and Orthopedics Department of the “Sf. Maria” Children Hospital, in Iasi, between January 1995 – December 2004. From this lot, 9 (14,29%) patients had only a cleft lip, and 54 ( 85,71%) had a cleft lip and palate. 41 (65,08%) patients had the cleft on the left side, 13 (20,63%) on the right side, and 9 (14,28%) had bilateral clefts. 34 (53,97%) patients were boys and 29 (46,03%) patients were girls. Most of the patients were operated at the age of 5-6 months. All the patients were operated by the author. CLP represents a common malformation, by some authors is considered to be the 2 most frequent congenital malformation found in live newborns: 1 in every 700-800. Generally it is considered that 25% of the cases have only a cleft lip, and 50% of the cases have a complete cleft lip and palate (2,3,4,5,6,7). The malformation is an infirmity due to the multiple consequences such as: esthetical appearance, psychological effect, defective speech, malnutrition and the associated pathologies. The surgical treatment of CLP represents the most important part of the treatment process, due to the fact that this intervention corrects the esthetical appearance of the child, a very important step for the family, for the social insertion of the patient and last but not least it prevents otitis and respiratory infections, it assures normal speech, it corrects the dentition, which will lead to a healthy nutrition, therefore a life that is closer to normal. Due to the complexity of this malformation and the multiple long-term implications, multiple treatment schemes have been created as well as numerous surgical methods for each step of the treatment. None of the treatment schemes has proven to be ideal.