Cleft palate repair post op

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Deliver Hope and Healing. How long does a cleft palate repair take to heal? What to expect after cleft palate surgery? Can cleft palate be treated? Soft diet, that consists of foods that melt in the mouth, such as: Ice cream.

Tissue from either side of the cleft will be drawn together to close the hole. The skin is stitched together with special thread.

When the edges heal together, it will be easier for your child to eat and learn to speak properly. Cleft lip is a congenital slit in the skin above the lip, typically also associated with a cleft palate. The typical treatment is reconstructive surgery. Post op care includes monitoring for choking.

Baby should lie on their back during sleep to prevent trauma to sutures. Treating Cleft Palate. The Cleft Lip and Palate Center expertly cares for children with cleft palate. The roof of your child’s mouth (the palate ) is still healing and should be protected from injury for about weeks after surgery.

There may be no feeling in this area for a while after the surgery. During the first week after surgery, you will feed your infant either with a syringe fitted with a special soft tubing, or a special cleft lip feeder (e.g., a Haberman feeder). We will give you the feeder that your surgeon decides is best for your child. Proper management of your childs cleft lip repair is very important to prevent damage to the surgical site.

Any complications can lead to additional scarring, a longer healing perio and even increase the possibility that your child will need extra surgeries. See full list on verywellhealth. After your childs surgery, they will remain in the hospital until they are able to be supported nutritionally, their pain is well-controlle and they are finished with necessary intravenous medications or able to take these medications by mouth.

Feeding after this surgery can be one of the biggest obstacles you need to overcome in order to take your child home.

You may find that there is a lot of controversy over whether you should breastfee bottle-fee or spoon-feed your child during the time period immediately following surgery ( post - op period). Regardless of the method you choose to feed your chil protection of the incision (wound) area is necessary for your child to heal. It is discouraged to have anything hard in your childs mouth until after the surgical incisions have healed. If you are spoon-feeding, you need to ensure that you are using the side of the spoon for feeding.

Do not use forks or other utensils, as they can damage the incision. After each feeding, many health care professionals recommend your child drink about 5-milliliters of water. After surgery, you may find that your surgeon has used something like the Logans Bow (metal bar) or Steri-Strips to help protect the incision.

This will remain in place until your surgeon clears the removal of the bar at a follow-up appointment after your child has been discharged from the hospital (generally about week after your childs discharge date). When you are holding your chil cradling them is preferred to keep them from bumping their lip and nose into your shoulder until they have fully healed. When they are lying down, be sure to keep them off their stomach as well by keeping them in either a side or back-lying position.

Pacifiers should also not be used as they will cause extra tension on the surgical site. If your doctor wants you to clean the incision, you will receive specific instructions that you should follow closely. A common recommendation is to apply the cleaning solution with a cotton swab in a circular motion without applying pressure directly on the incision. This is used to help protect the incision from nasal drainage by creating a barrier between the drainage and the skin, as well as inhibit the growth of germs.

This is especially important since the incision for a cleft-lip repair is so close to the nose and mouth, which is a particularly dirty area. Antibiotic ointment can also be useful because it prevents the formation of a scab-like crust at the incision, which can sometimes be painful. Typically, your surgeon will recommend you apply the ointment about three times a day for two days, but again, each case is different.

As your child recovers, they will require less and less pain medicine. By the time your child is discharged from the hospital, their pain should be fairly well-controlled. Aside from medications, if your child is fussy, comforting measures like holding and rocking, talking softly to them, and basically anything that you can do to show affection and to comfort your child may prove useful. Distraction with a favorite TV show or music can also be helpful.

If your child is having unrelieved pain despite your best efforts, you should call your doctor. Also, if you feel that your child is not doing well, call your doctor. You know your child best and as the parent, you will be the first person to notice a problem.

After surgery, your child will have soft arm or elbow restraints on to help prevent them from rubbing or messing with their incision. During this time, it is important for them to wear the restraints as much as possible. Infection is a potential complication of any surgery. If your doctor has prescribed antibiotics to be taken after the cleft lip repair, make sure you give the medication to your child on time, as directe and until the bottle is completely gone. Keeping your childs incision and sutures clean is very important in preventing infection.

Some surgeons will have you clean the incision regularly, while others may prefer that you leave the incision clean and dry and do not touch it. Many doctors recommend cleaning with normal saline or mild soap and water. Some surgeons recommend cleaning the incision with half-strength hydrogen peroxide, especially if there is a lot of crust formation around the incision and sutures. If you use half-strength hydrogen peroxide, be sure to clean with plain water or saline afterwar as hydrogen peroxide can kill healthy cells as well as germs and be irritating to your childs skin if not rinsed off. You should not worry about your child becoming addicted to narcotic pain medication.

Controlling pain will help your child to heal faster because they will get more restful sleep. You should also be aware that unrelieved pain can be a sign that there is a surgical complication that needs to be treated. However, every child is different and the most important thing is that your child is comfortable after their cleft lip repair. Surgical repair of the palate generally occurs around year of age, following the successful repair of cleft lip if present.

Begin at the end that is closer to the nose. Always begin cleaning away from the incision in small circles. DO NOT rub right on the wound. Some stitches will break apart or go away on their own. After surgery for cleft palate , your child needs a balanced diet of non-irritating foods.

This is important to prevent infection and encourage healing. Here are some ideas for what and how to feed your child. Place your child in a sitting position for feeding. Both problems result from the incomplete formation of anatomical structures (the lips and the palate , or “roof of the mouth”) which develop during early pregnancy. After a cleft palate has been closed surgically the baby’s cry may sound different – this may be because of the swelling and closing the gap to the nose.

Cleft palate repair is a surgery to fix a cleft , or hole, in the palate , or the roof of the mouth. However it may also be because the gap in the palate has been closed and therefore will be a permanent change. After cleft palate surgery there will be stitches in your child’s mouth. The stitches are dissolvable— they will start to dissolve in 7–days. Recovery Two to three weeks are needed before healing is complete and some children remain unsettled for this length of time.

Cleft Palate Surgery - Postoperative Instructions Cleft palate is a common and—fortunately—correctable birth defect. Surgery is required to close the gap in the palate, or roof of the mouth. This is a simple operation, but the lifetime benefits are immeasurable.

DESCRIPTION OF THE CLEFT PALATE REPAIR The cleft palate is usually repaired at months to one year of age. There is no convincing data as to the most ideal time for the palate to be repaired. The earlier repairs probably have better speech outcomes, while delaying surgery may allow for more growth prior to surgery.