Difficult laryngoscopy in cleft lip and palate surgery.

We studied prospectively 800 paediatric patients undergoing repair of cleft lip and palate to determine the predictors of difficult laryngoscopy. The incidence of difficult laryngoscopy (Cormack and Lehane grade III and IV) was 2.95% in patients with unilateral cleft lip, 45.76% in bilateral cleft lip and 34.61% in patients with retrognathia. Tracheal intubation was successful in 99% of patients in whom laryngoscopy was difficult. There was a significant association between age and laryngoscopic view (P < 0.01).