Clinical profiles of individuals with orofacial clefts: Results from fourteen Eastern African countries.

Fitsum Kifle Belachew; Desta Galcha Gerbu; Ermiyas Belay Woldesenbet; Eleleta Surafel Abay; Salome Maswime; Mekonen Eshete

Global Pediatrics (Sep 2023)

Clinical profiles of individuals with orofacial clefts: Results from fourteen Eastern African countries.

Fitsum Kifle Belachew,
Desta Galcha Gerbu,
Ermiyas Belay Woldesenbet,
Eleleta Surafel Abay,
Salome Maswime,
Mekonen Eshete

Affiliations

Fitsum Kifle Belachew: Network for Perioperative and Critical Care, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Global Surgery Division, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Correspondence: Fitsum Kifle, Global Surgery Division, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Desta Galcha Gerbu: Network for Perioperative and Critical Care, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Department of Surgery, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Arba Minch University, Ethiopia
Ermiyas Belay Woldesenbet: Network for Perioperative and Critical Care, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Department of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Science, Wolkite University, Wolkite, Ethiopia
Eleleta Surafel Abay: Network for Perioperative and Critical Care, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; University of Edinburgh, School of Public Health, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Salome Maswime: Global Surgery Division, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Mekonen Eshete: Addis Ababa University College of Health Sciences School of medicine, Surgical Department, Yekatit 12 Hospital Medical College, Plastic and Reconstructive surgery department, Ethiopia

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 5
p. 100067

Abstract

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Background: More than 100,000 cleft lip and palate patients have benefited from reconstructive surgeries in Africa because of surgical support from non-governmental organizations such as Smile Train. The Smile Train Express is the largest cleft-centered patient registry with over a million records of clinical records, globally. In this study, we reviewed data from the Eastern African patient registry to analyze and understand the clinical profiles of cleft lip and palate patients operated at Smile Train partner hospitals in East Africa. Method: A cross-sectional study design was undertaken through a retrospective database review in fourteen Eastern African countries. The study population included all patients who had cleft lip and palate surgeries recorded in the Smile Train database between 2001 and 2019. Findings: 86,683 patient records from 14 Eastern African countries were included in this study. The mean age was (8.8), the mean weight was 22.3 kg and 20.8 kg for males and females, respectively, and 61.9% of the surgeries were performed on male patients. Left cleft lip and palate (21,062, 24.62%) and left cleft lip only (17,155, 20.05%) were the most common types of clefts, with bilateral cleft lip only (3958, 4.63%) being the least frequent. complete left cleft lip with complete left alveolus was the most frequent cleft combination observed (n = 21,746) and Cleft lip to cleft lip and palate to cleft palate ratio (CL:CLP: CP) was 4.73:7.1:1. Unilateral primary lip-nose repairs were the most common surgeries (66%). General anesthesia was used for 74,783 (86.2%) of the procedures. Interpretation: Most children with cleft lip and/or palate were underweight, possibly due to malnutrition or related to socioeconomic status. There were more male patients compared to females, which could be related to gender disparities. Access to surgical care for children born with congenital defects needs to be improved, and inequities need to be addressed via more evidence-based collaborative intervention strategies. Funding: None

Published in Global Pediatrics

ISSN: 2667-0097 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Medicine: Pediatrics
Website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/global-pediatrics

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