Early treatment of labiopalatine clefts. Their management and anesthetic problems

The authors review a new therapeutic chronology for cleft lip and palate developed by R. Malek and J. Psaume. This involves very early treatment requiring orthopaedic or surgical procedures in small infants aged one to three months. These have been made possible by progress in techniques and equipment from both a surgical and orthopaedic standpoint as well as in anaesthesia. They describe the organisation of anaesthesia and analyse their results, showing that this is a simple anaesthetic, free of risk. The postoperative course is simple. The child is fed normally and is discharged on the 2nd or 3rd postoperative day.