Objective: To review the clinical outcome for patients with Van der Woude syndrome undergoing surgical excision of congenital lip sinuses.
Design: Retrospective chart review.
Setting: Multidisciplinary cleft-craniofacial team within a tertiary care hospital.
Patients, participants: Seventeen patients with Van der Woude syndrome were identified from hospital records as having cleft lip and/or palate surgery performed at the University of Iowa, and six of these patients underwent simple surgical excision of lower lip sinuses.
Main outcome measures: Incidence of postoperative complications and number of surgeries required per patient for correction of lower lip defect.
Results: All six patients undergoing surgical excision of lip sinuses had postoperative mucocele formation. These uniformly required one or two further surgeries for correction. There were no other complications associated with the procedures and no patient had a pre- or postoperative whistling deformity. Cosmetic outcome was thought to be satisfactory in all cases.
Conclusions: Despite the overall improvement in cosmetic appearance following simple surgical excision of congenital lower lip sinuses, the high rate of mucocele formation and repeat surgery has led to cautious preoperative counseling regarding the risks and benefits of the procedure.