Paediatric plastic surgery caters to plastic surgical problems in children. It deals with birth defects like cleft lip and palate, hypospadias, birth marks etc.

Cleft Lip and Palate

Cleft lip and palate is a commonly found birth anomaly which can be corrected with timely plastic surgery. The deformity occurs during fetal development when the lip and roof of the mouth do not form properly. There is a defect in the lip i.e the right and left lips are not joined together. Similarly if the roof of mouth does not form normally there will remains a hole leading to difficulty in eating and poor speech. The child may suffer from either cleft of lip or palate alone or both.

Cleft lip surgery is usually performed when the child is three months of age or older. The operation is performed with  plastic surgery techniques so that not only a natural appearance but function is restored as well.
Though there will be scar marks they will eventually blend in with natural lip lines and under the nose.

Cleft palate surgery is performed at the age of nine to twelve months. It is important to get the surgery done in time so as to have a normal speech development. With a reconstructed palate,the child will be able to eat and speak properly. It is important to adhere to feeding instructions post operatively to allow normal healing. As the child will grow older he/she will be assessed and helped by speech therapist to ensure good speech.

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