The influence of primary unilateral cleft lip repair on facila growth.

The lip pressure exerted by the repaired cleft lip was studied in 35 rabbits during a 20-week period. Animals were divided into four groups. Two of them were controls, and in the other two, two different surgical procedures were used for the lip repair. The results of this study indicate that there was reduction in lip pressure resulting from the surgically induced cleft lip, alveolus, and palate. Substantial increases in lip pressure were shown in both groups in which lip repair was completed. The influence of primary unilateral cleft lip repair on the facial growth of rabbits in this study will be presented in Part II of this report.