Lip adhesion in bilateral cleft lip

Surgical correction of bilateral cleft lip deformities remains one of the most challenging areas in facial plastic surgery. This is particularly true with asymmetrical, incomplete-complete clefts; and with symmetrical, complete clefts with marked protrusion of the premaxilla. Although the lip adhesion procedure has been used with success in certain unilateral clefts, its possible role in the bilateral deformity is less well defined and accepted. The purpose of this report is to propose that lip adhesion has advantages in certain bilateral deformities and to describe a technique for one-stage bilateral adhesions.