Outcome of Nasal Layer Reinforcement With Autologous Dermis in Cleft Palate Repair on Postoperative Fistula Formation.

Palatal fistulae are challenging complications following cleft palate repair. The addition of acellular dermal matrix (ADM) to cleft palate repair has been shown to reduce fistula formation in previous studies. The use of autologous dermal graft has all the structural advantages of ADM, has less rejection and immunogenic potential, and is cost effective. A prospective study. Patients with Group II and III cleft palate (Nagpur Classification) without prior intervention for palatal repair in the Department of Plastic Surgery at PGIMER from January 2020 till June 2021. The addition of autologous dermal graft for palatoplasty. Outcome of the study was fistula development or exposure of dermal graft. Autologous dermal graft was harvested of average dimension of 8.73 cm2 (range 5.25-18 cm2) from groin region. Sixteen patients were included in the study. Among them, 2 patients (12.5%) developed postoperative fistula (Type III &V Pittsburgh Classification). Our study showed that the rates of postoperative fistula formation are comparable with prior literature using artificial dermal matrices.