Secondary repair of the bilateral cleft lip deformity.

A wide prolabial segment with a "whistling" defect used to be a common deformity following bilateral cleft lip surgery when the muscle repair was ignored. Simply revising scars often will be followed by recurrence of the deformity. An adequate muscle repair is the basis for a successful and permanent correction. The operation described in this paper includes elevation of the prolabial skin and reconstruction of the orbicularis oris muscle.