Primary cheiloplasty on an elderly man: Case report and review of the literature

It is rare for surgeons in the United States to perform primary repair of a cleft lip on an adult. However, in developing nations with limited specialized health care, late presentation for primary cheiloplasty occurs due to limitations in access to care, lack of awareness of treatment availability, and inability to afford treatment. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons who participate in humanitarian surgical mission trips to the developing world may encounter this subpopulation of cleft patients. The following case report describes the repair of an incomplete bilateral cleft lip in a 68-year-old man performed during a mission trip to rural Bangladesh. Based on an extensive literature search, this is the oldest patient to have undergone primary cheiloplasty reported in the English-language surgical literature. Keywords: adult, Bangladesh, cleft lip, cheiloplasty